Quick recap for new visitors: Wired is organizing a hunt for writer Evan Ratliff. He wrote a feature in our September issue about how people disappear -- and how they're tracked. Now he's trying it himself. I have access to all the accounts that a private investigator would have and I'm posting information from them here, as I find it. To win the $5,000 prize, you need to locate Evan personally, say the word "Fluke," and then e-mail me the secret code word that he sends back. Previous clues are posted here, and we recommend that you join the Facebook group The Search for Evan Ratliff.
Today's clues:
On August 17, Evan spent the following money:
$171 at Bar Crudo in San Francisco
He received a $32.84 credit from Pet Food Express
He spent $109.08 at REI at 83 San Francisco, San Francisco
He transferred $1500 from his savings account to his checking account.
He also apparently spent $29.34 at Federal Express. Here is the full line from that transaction:
FEDEX 868322701268 800-4633339 TN
On 8/13, he had the following expense as well: FEDEX 869744129440 800-4633339 TN $19.12
People have asked for more details on his purchases at Oil Can Henry's and Best Buy. Here's the best i can do:
08/14/2009 BEST BUY 00001875 SAN FRANCISCO CA $28.46
08/13/2009 OIL CAN HENRY'S #079 SAN FRANSISCO CA $60.52
And here are his latest IP addresses:
Browser 85.214.73.63 12:20 am
Browser 173.50.128.93 8:59 pm
Browser 194.6.222.38 7:44 pm
I just conducted an interview with a friend of Evan's, and I'll post it later today. In it, he confirms that Evan's car is not a VW.
Lastly, there has been some speculation that Evan is traveling with his girlfriend. He's not.
