If you weren't around this weekend, you missed some intense action in the hunt for Evan Ratliff, the disappeared Wired writer who has a $5,000 bounty on his head but who needs only to last one more week to get the money himself.
First off, Evan apparently pulled a fast one and flew into Salt Lake City from Memphis, surprising all those who had assumed he was on the West Coast. There, he eluded several stakeouts, apparently passing just a few feet in front of one, and comfortably watched the US defeat El Salvador 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday from a seat in Section 24.
After the game, he grabbed a bit to eat in Salt Lake City, withdrew some cash from two ATMs, and headed to the airport. A tipster though, got Wired info that he has en route to Atlanta, and information was posted about his flight minutes before its scheduled arrival. But, amazingly, Delta was early and Evan slipped away through the airport.
Where is he now? Trackevan appears to have a bead on him. But Evan is confident and he has accepted a challenge from Wired. We have designed five tasks for him to complete this week. We'll tell him about one of them each morning at about 9am. You can find out what we've told him by solving that day's New York Times crossword puzzle and then using this key:
Monday: G 1E 3SE 1W 8S 2N 2N 1NW 5NE 4W 1SE 1NE 2S 3SE 5W 11E 5SW 1E 1E 11NW
Tuesday: A 3N 6N 9E 1W 5SW 3W 11E 2W 2E 2E 2S 1W 2SW 1N 4NE 3N 4W 4SW 2N 2W 1N 2N 2NW 5S
Wednesday: G 12S 7N 1E 6SE 13W 9E 1S 3E 1NE 4NW 2S 1N 1SE 1N 3NW 3W 1W 8E 7SW 1S 1NE 2N
Thursday: U 1S 4N 1W 14E 1S 4W 2S 1NE 3W 4N 2W 1SW 2SE 1SW 6NW 4SE 2N 6S 3SW 1N 1W 6N 12E
Friday: S 1E 4E 1N 1E 7N 5S 3NE 1NW 2E 4SE 12W 4E 5N 7E 5S 7W 1NW 4NW 11S 2NE 4E 11N 5W 5S 11E 2N 5W
Yesterday, we gave him 48 hours to "go attend a book reading."
Today, he's got 48 hours to "ascend a 50-story building." (It can be 51 or 68 stories; it just has to be more than 50).
What will we, and the Gray Lady, tell him tomorrow? Get your paper early, or follow the conversation on twitter at #vanish.
