Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Evan Ratliff has been captured!
A big congratulations to the folks at Wired for a successful contest.
This will most likely be my last blog entry. I might have more insight or refelections once Evan's story is published in the December issue of Wired.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Atlanta
GA | Jeffrey's Sports Bar & Grill Alpharetta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | McColgan's Alpharetta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Meehan's Alpharetta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Wild Wing Cafe Athens | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Bench Warmers Sports Grill Atlanta 404-321-0303 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Brewhouse Cafe 3401 Moreland Avenue Atlanta 404-525-7799 | LIVE international matches including English Football, World Cup Qualifiers, and Fox Soccer Channel telecasts. Call for schedule. |
GA | Dantanna's Surf & Turf 3400 Around Lenox Drive, Suite 304 Atlanta 404-760-8873 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Fado Irish Pub Atlanta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Fox and Hound Pub 1193 Collier Road Atlanta 404-352-1007 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Hartfields Grill and Bar 1375 Virginia Ave. 404-763-9922 Atlanta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Limerick Junction Pub 822 N.Highland Ave. Atlanta | Fox Soccer Channel Subscriber. Owner Man U fan. |
GA | Loca Luna 836 Juniper St Suite B Atlanta (404) 875-4474 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | McDuff's Irish Pub Atlanta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Mellow Mushroom Emory 1679 Lavista Road NE Atlanta 404-325-0330 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | P'cheen 701-5 Highland Ave. Atlanta 404-529-8800 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Pub 71 4058 Peachtree Road, Suite C Atlanta 404-467-8271 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | The Rose and Crown 288 East Paces Ferry Atlanta 404-233-8168 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Taco Mac Peachtree Rd. Atlanta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Tap Peachtree Rd. Atlanta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Somewhere in Augusta 2820 Washington Rd. Augusta 706-739-0002 | Fox Soccer Channel, GolTV, and Setanta subscriber. Official viewing spot for Manchester United and USA National Team supporters. Over 40 HDTV flat screens and 15 booth TVs. |
GA | Wild Wing Cafe 3035 Washington Rd. Augusta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | The Manchester Arms 1705 Virginia Avenue College Park | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | The Firkin & Crown 440 Peachtree Parkway Cumming 678-845-7997 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Twain's Billiards & Tap Decatur | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Los Bravos Decatur | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Bailey's Duluth | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Loafing Leprechaun 6320 Sugarloaf Parkway Duluth 678-218-0800 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber |
GA | Vic's NY Pizza 3455 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Suite A-140 Duluth | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. Soccer friendly, manager is an Arsenal fan. Shows EPL and Champions League matches. |
GA | Coaster's Sports Bar (478) 474-2229 Macon | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Locos Bar and Grill 2440 Riverside Dr. 478-745-8980 Macon | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Churchill's Pub 1401 Johnson Ferry Rd Marietta 770-565-2739 | Fox Soccer Channel Subscriber. |
GA | Hammer Jax Marietta | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Johnnie MacCracken's Celtic Firehouse Pub 15 Atlanta St., NE Marietta 678-290-6641 | Fox Soccer Channel Subscriber. |
GA | Suburban Tap 1318 Johnson Ferry Rd. Marietta 770-977-4467 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber |
GA | Wild Wing Cafe 2145 Roswell Road Marietta 770-509-9464 | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Dark Horse Pub Peachtree City | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Andretti Speed Lab Roswell | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | La Med Restaurant Roswell | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Meehan's Sandy Springs | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
GA | Churchill's Savannah | Home of Manchester City! FSC subscriber and all EPL games. |
GA | The Penalty Box Stockbridge | Fox Soccer Channel subscriber. |
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Data Dump from Lexis/Nexis
Some interesting pieces of information that I have found so far include: Evan held, maybe still holds, the title of Speech Assistant at Wired, and a new (to me) email address: im_ratliff@newyorker.com.
If you have a chance please look through the data and provide your thoughts or questions in the comments section of this blog or on the Find Evan Wiki.
The Lexis/Nexis data dump can be found here.
Thanks,
@EvanOffGrid
#Vanish
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Has Operation Bookstore Been Defeated?
Nicholas Thompson, Evan's editor at Wired, posted this tweet today about Evan's successful purchase of Tracy Kidder's new book, Strength in What Remains:
According to Nicholas, via a Twitter direct message to me, Evan emailed him the message about purchasing the book and "Since Evan can't lie to me, it's either true or someone cracked his account. But writing sure sounds like him."
Nicholas had assured that Evan would purchase the new Kidder book on or before today. The ABA mentioned in the email to Nicholas is most likely a reference to the American Booksellers Association, the association for independent bookstores. Operation Bookstore was mentioned in the official Wired blog, Vanish: Finding Evan Ratliff, ensuring Evan would know the hunters were focused on finding him at an independent bookstore.
Evan is now taunting his hunters by letting us know he eluded Operation Bookstore, which was designed to limit Evan's purchase to a large chain bookstore, thus narrowing his purchase options and hopefully making it easier to find him.
I wonder if our man on the lam went to extraordinary measures to purchase his coveted book at an independent bookstore. Maybe he disguised his appearance even more before walking into the store, throwing a glance over both shoulders, warily looking side to side, before entering the Shangi-La of book nerds: an independent bookstore.
Perhaps the paranoia of a man on the lam forced Evan to hide behind big, dark sunglasses and a creepy-looking trench coat while standing on a street corner whispering to pedestrians, "Hey, wanna make 50 bucks? It's yours if you buy the new Tracy Kidder book for me."
We probably won't know how our efforts to find him effected Evan until his follow up story in the December issue of Wired is published. It seems that the extra worry on his brow or any special steps Evan took to make his coveted purchase at an independent bookstore were worth it. For indeed, he did make his purchase at an independent bookstore and tauntingly defeated Operation Bookstore.
Unless, of course, Operation Bookstore never existed?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Operation Bookstore Is Underway
On the Grid Confirmations
"The day before he left, we watched the Mexico-U.S. soccer match in town, and he told me that he was leaving the next day. But he didn’t say anything about where. He was driving his hunter green Honda. But he told me that he was going through a move and selling that car. But he certainly hadn’t sold it yet."
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wanted: Cryptologist
Official Blog Entry about this message from Nick on Wired Blog: http://www.wired.com/vanish/2009/08/is-evans-cat-jumping-on-the-keyboard/
Text of Message:
HST—FaLiLV/tRD:aN/HA:aSaTS;
TW—tRS/tEKAA/tBotV;
FSF—TItN/tGG/tCCoBB;
JC—LJ/HoD/aOoP;
JM—JGS/MWS/tBotH;
GD—BB:aBaJ/tCoM/tMotS; see GR
Code deciphered here: http://textbin.com/s8741
Wikipedia Entries for Authors Here: http://textbin.com/08c21
Additional message, deciphered in the link above, left here: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2660551-evan-ratliff
What does it mean? Or is it a misdirection? Adding to our file to make us waste our time?
Evan interviewed Frank M. Ahearn, author of the #1 book on how to disappear, for Evan's article in Wired. From Mr. Ahearn's web site:
"DISINFORMATION is making the PI’s file thicker disinformation has three parts, Hook - Line & Sinker. The hook is to bring a PI into an area of choosing and have them start searching for the subject. The line is having them find information about my subject. The sinker is having the PI believe they are on the trail of my subject and keep trying to reel them in.
Disinformation is my favorite part when it comes to teaching someone how to disappear. To me it is the sneaky aspect of leaving the breadcrumbs for the PI to find or who ever is looking for my subject. Disinformation makes the file thick and eventually cauSes mass confusion."
--source
#vanish
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Search for Evan Ratliff on Wikipedia and wiki for #Vanish Hunters
I just discovered there is an Evan Ratliff entry on Wikipedia. Most of the information so far concerns the hunt for Evan. Wikipedia site can be found here.
The official Wired blog, Vanish: Finding Evan Ratliff can be found here.
#Vanish
Has Evan Sold His Car? (Updated)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Searching the Wayback Machine
(619) 429-8810 Fax: (619) 429-8805
(888) 552-2252
Photo of Evan with Beard and Sunglasses
Rooting for the Underdog
1999 Honda Civics for Sale in CA on CraigsList
Friday, August 21, 2009
A chat with @JohnsonThrimp
Updated Dossier Info August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Classic Misdirection?
Camping, Contiguous 48, Novice Tracking
Updated Dossier Information on Evan Ratliff
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | Evan Donald Ratliff |
Hometown . . . . . . . . . . . . | Atlanta |
DOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | April 23, 1975 |
Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 5'11" |
Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 175 |
Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | Blue |
Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. | Brown |
Build . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. | Medium |
Medical condition . . . . . . . | Celiac disease |
Twitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | @theatavist |
Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | eratliff@atavist.net |
Known online alias . . . . . . | Thrimp Johnson |
Known to frequent . . . . . . . | Beaches, Wi-Fi-enabled coffee shops, soccer-watching bars, used bookstores, taco stands, dive bars, fishing holes |
Last seen in . . . . . . . . . . . . | San Francisco |
- Evan is left-handed
- He sometimes wears glasses
- He's a night owl
- We think he is driving 1999 honda civic License Plate 4mun509 CA
- Plays Ultimate Frisbee
- Nickname from Duke Ultimate Frisbee club Ratty
- Degree from Duke University in Environmental Sciences
- Loves eating at fast food restaurant Chick-Fil-A
- Avid reader
More Details on the Fed Ex Packages.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Fed Ex Link to Evan's Previous Work History
In 2004 Evan was a Fellow with the International Reporting Project. They are located in Washington D.C. You can find Evan's bio from the IRP here.
There were other Fellows that year with Evan. Their bio's can be found here.
As we know from the Wired Data Dump site Evan had something delivered to a Washington, D.C. address just before he vanished. The package was signed for by D. Person. I wonder if the IRP has someone named D. Person who would have signed for the package? Or it's likely that D. Person (The Person) is a ruse as Nicholas mentioned in a tweet. I'll keep looking for a D. Person on the IRP's web site.
International Reporting Project
The Johns Hopkins University
School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
1619 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 663-7761
Fax: (202) 663-7762
Email: irp@jhu.edu
More Dossier Information on Evan Ratliff
http://bit.ly/8jwa0
http://bit.ly/3wG79b
Evan was a photographer and writer for Duke University's student newspaper, the Duke Chronicle. Evan is a very knowledgeable fan of Jazz Music. The Duke University yearbook is The Chanticleer. I could only find online editions of the yearbook up to the year 1960.
On his Flickr account, the last photos posted from were taken with a Nikon D70. Other photos on his Flickr were taken with a Canon PowerShot SD600. I mention this because in Evan's article about Matthew Sheppard (Gone Forever: What Does it Take to Really Disappear?) he talked about how this type of information can be useful to investigators.
On a side note, you can follow me on Twitter: @evanoffgrid
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Here's Looking Up Your Address
My Theory (SWAG) on Where Evan Might Be Heading
My thought process to Hunter S. Thompson starts with atavism. The first time I remember reading the word atavistic was in a Hunter S. Thompson book. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I believe, though not sure. As you probably know by now, Evan has a web site called The Atavist. This is my how I got to the SWAG about being near Woody Creek, CO, HST's last address.
The Las Vegas angle. Since I mentioned Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas it made more sense that Vegas would be a good hide out in the open sort of place. "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Another thought I had Vegas is that Evan mentioned the cost of wi-fi at hotels. Evan has been all over the world. He probably has enough frequent traveler points for most hotel chains to stay for free. In Vegas, the hotels on the strip charge $10 and higher per 24 hours. Evan mentioned the cost of wi-fi in this tweet.
Just some random thoughts about where he might be. I know it's not concrete proof, just a SWAG.
Edited to add tracking someone through Frequent Traveler numbers was used in Evan's article.
Latest Data Dump from Wired
If you have found this blog, then I probably don't need to explain what this is all about. If you don't know, here is the link to why we are looking for Evan Ratliff.