I need to track down someone who owes me a considerable amount of money.

He is a mechanic that was in the process of rebuilding the engine in my Porsche 930 Turbo. He left Alaska with the camshafts for my Porsche, with the intent of having them re-ground once he established his new residence, possibly in Washington state. He also left before delivering to me about $4500 worth of parts that I had already advanced the money for purchase. (He ran a small but very high quality shop here in Fairbanks, and was a personal friend of more than 20 years standing).

At this point, the only information I have on him is his name (first, last, and middle initial), his previous address, previous phone number, and first and last name of his wife, plus the supposition that he moved to Washington state, but may no longer be there.

What services have people had good results from in a case like this?

tanstaafl.

Yikes! No idea, but good luck!

The FBI? Police? He walked off with your money (stole it)... so getting them involved wouldn't be unwarranted. But, I understand if you just want to track him down and don't want to get the police involved since you aren't sure what the circumstances are. You could always try some social engineering.

Try this link... if you have a past address or two, it is pretty easy...you many have to make a few LD phone calls, but if you use skype you can do so for free until the end of the year....

http://www.zabasearch.com/

It's scarry....

If he has a presence in Washington State he may have some pubilc records filed there (marriage license, real estate purchases liens etc..) so check the records for some of the major counties in Washington- King (Seattle Area), Pierce (Tacoma Area) and Snohomish (Seattle suburbs).

Checking for their e-mail on MySpace can also yield useful info- but somehow I doubt this person would have a MySpace account.

If ya find him, and he's anywhere near seattle, I could arrange for to do a Jay and Silent Bob on 'im. Just say the word.

The FBI? Police? He walked off with your money (stole it)... so getting them involved wouldn't be unwarranted.

No, that would be a last-ditch resort. I think it is more a misunderstanding than anything else. He may fully believe that we are even right now, as our "business" arrangements were informal and on a handshake basis. I think if I can just find him and lay out in detail the work done, the promises made, and payments received, he will realize that he does indeed owe me and will make good. He did not skip town to avoid his creditors or anything like that. He closed his shop because the landlord sold the building and he used that as an opportunity to explore other areas for employment.

tanstaafl.

you many have to make a few LD phone calls, but if you use skype you can do so for free until the end of the year....

Trust me, a few pennies spent on phone calls is not high on my list of obstacles in finding him! In any case, I think my long-distance plan gives me about 200 minutes a month as part of the package, and my average long-distance usage is... oh, about zero.

I asked my phone company for a plan that would give me basic service really cheaply, and charge me $5.00 per minute for long distance, but what I have is the least expensive they offer.

tanstaafl.

I need to track down someone who owes me a considerable amount of money.

Okay, I know there are some people here whose search-fu is much better than mine. So, here's the deal.

I am offering a $50 bounty to the first person who can put me in contact with this man -- contact being defined as a valid current address and a valid current home or work telephone number where I can actually talk with him.

If anyone is interested in taking up this challenge, PM or email me, and I will provide you with name, occupation, month/year of birth, wife's name, four recent addresses, four recent phone numbers, four previous employers.

Any takers?

tanstaafl.

If there aren't a hundred kids on Usenet and IRC who would take this and succeed, I'll be damned. I am sadly not one of them.