Oregon family searches for answers in son’s murder

CORBETT, Ore. - A family is trying to figure out who murdered their son thousands of miles from home in a sprawling seaport town in Ecuador.

But like any large city, this one too is susceptible to crime. And a mother and father from the Oregon town of Corbett - 22 miles east of Portland off the Columbia River - are now suffering the loss of their son.

Their son is Max Chamberlin. He was born in Portland, and went to the Metropolitan Learning Center - a public school in Northwest Portland - from kindergarten through 12th grade. Now Max is dead, as a result of what his father said is a "calculated, cold-blooded killing to steal Max's money" in what appears to be an Ecuadorian land-development deal that fell apart.

"Whether they can find the assassin who did it remains to be seen," Max's father, John Chamberlin, said. "But we need to get to the bottom of this."

For Max Chamberlin, Ecuador was a second home. “There was a love of life and sparkle in Ecuador that Max loved,” said John.

John said Max struggled in school with a learning disability but he went to the seaport town of Manta, Ecuador, as an exchange student in high school and came back to Portland fluent in Spanish.

“He fell in love with the town, and the people of the town,” said John.

So Max went back. At 22 years old, Max reportedly decided to build an apartment for himself, his girlfriend, his former exchange-student host family and other families he had grown close to.

“He had plans drawn up, put it into motion, went to a foreign country and built a building,” John said.

However, Max was told that the law required that he put the land in the name of an Ecuadorian citizen. His father tells KATU that he spoke with the Ecuadorian consulate, who reportedly confirmed that American citizens could not own Ecuadorian property. 

Meanwhile, U.S. citizens living on the coast of Ecuador - just south of Manta - contacted KATU to say that, in their experience, "anyone can own property in Ecuador. There is absolutely no requirement for an 'Ecuadorean partner.'"

Max, however, followed the advice he was given and signed the land over to someone else earlier this year. In late-October, Max’s family discovered that Max believed some of his money had gone missing.

“It was something involving the building, or money going into construction, or both,” his father said.

On Monday night, someone shot Max to death in a small parking lot in Manta.

His family said they wonder if the shooting was related to the apartment. They said they are heartbroken that their son, a trusting, loving, and giving person, could die in such a violent way so far from home.

“He loved to help people,” said his father. “He lived to help people. He was kind and sweet to his core.”

Note that Ecuadorian residents tell KATU that guns in Manta are "notoriously hard to come by. Even the police can not take a weapon home when they are off duty, unless they have a personal permit to carry a concealed weapon."

The family has set up a fund in Max’s memory to help students like him who suffer from a learning disability but have an extreme aptitude for technology. The fund is through WorkSystems Inc., a private non-profit Oregon corporation working from downtown Portland at 111 S.W. Fifth Ave., Ste. 1150, to help dislocated workers and disadvantaged youth get jobs.

KATU is told that donations will fund a Max Chamberlain Internship through WorkSystems.