If you were a cop, would this be worth persuing?

If I were a police officer? Probably not. If I were an FBI agent, or an OHS agent? Definitely yes!

http://www.dhs.gov/xutil/contactus.shtm

This definitely has the makings of a gooed action novel!

Wow, this sound interesting but if I were a policeman (we live in a very small town) I would contact the FBI. Whoever this guy was, he was not who he said.

@klutzaroo, I forwarded your link to the property manager. I own the building so she is keeping me informed.

I’m with @anartist here ^^ A good story for a novel. :P

Why would someone from India want black hair dye? Money transfers to Pakistan aren’t too unusual, in the UK anyway, but transfers from Pakistan could be suspicious. There are a lot of odd things in this scenario and it doersn’t make sense that the policeman can’t see it.

Also, local FBI offices and tip form.

@flutherother; my property manager took a seminar for property managers where they said to look out for black hair dye and peroxide. I’m not sure why the black hair dye would matter.
The money transfers from Pakistan were suspicious because he said he was from India and aren’t those two countries at odds with each other?

The average policeman doesn’t have the same level of training in things like this since they have their hands full with crimes which have actually occured.

But both the FBI and the Secret Service have much more prevention or investigation oriented training. They know what to look for.

A call to the local FBI office would be much appreciated, I’m sure.

And you’re correct about the India/Pakistan situation.

@Judi Nearly all Indians (and Pakistanis) have dark hair so why the black hair dye. I don’t know what it does with peroxide but it would be suspicious. Money transfers from Pakistan are very suspicious especially if they are large amounts, and I suspect these transfers are monitored anyway. The connection with Bin Laden is just a coincidence I think. If the police officer is Indian or Pakistani then he may be in on the conspiracy. What about Homeland Security? Do they have a phone number?

Fox Bravo India. pronto

@King_Pariah ; I told her to call. I haven’t got an update yet.

Well I don’t see anything suspisious and worth persuing here,and how did Bin Laden get into this calculation besides the fact that he was killed the day before? I mean if we were to dig into everyone’s secret and investigate thier past, then half of us could be worth persuing if we are to be this paranoid.

The ability of this man to probably hack and make fake ID’s is enough.

Sounds like the most likely thing this indicates, in the real world, is that the manager is a busybody.

Unless those holes in the ceiling look like they were possibly trying to intrude into the neighbor above.

@King_Pariah sorry but I didn’t read anything above that proves that HE CAN in fact hack and make fake ID’s, and even if he can, shouldn’t there be proof that he had infact did it?

@Zaku, the guy moved out and left the stuff there. How does finding it make her a busy body? It could very well be nothing, but my sister got a visit from the FBI when her son moved to Dubai and married a Pakistani girl. This seems more suspicious than that.

Let’s look at some possibilities:

The resident said he was a pharmacist from India. Trying to get a forwarding address, the manager calls his employer and finds he hasn’t worked there for 8 months. What if the tenant was a pharmacist when he signed the lease? There are companies that hire people based upon the information that is provided on an application and do not do reference checks. This might be the case for either the company he used to work for, as well as the apartment manager. And maybe he was a pharmacist in his native country, but isn’t legally licensed in the country you live in.

Looking at the apartment the manager finds abandoned property which includes evidence of money transfers from Pakistan, black hair dye, and books to learn Spanish quickly. He has also left computer equipment and a flash drive. Maybe he has friends/family in Pakistan that have been sending him money to support him…the guy has been out of a job for eight months, so he would need some sort of financial support while unemployed.

Most people from India and Pakistan have black hair. Maybe his attempting to hide the grey.

Some people like learning new languages. Attempting to pick up Spanish may just be a personal interest.

Maybe the computer equipment and flash drive belonged to the company he worked for. He didn’t return it, and they weren’t bothered enough about it to go hunt it down. Our company has let an employee leave without pursing items with a far greater value than this.

Curious, the manager googles his old address and finds hits about a school famous for producing hackers and false ID’s. Just because a school has a reputation for something does not mean that all students participate in it.

She also discovers that he was never licensed as a pharmacist. Addressed above. It is all about being diligent in doing reference checks.

She also finds pills strewn all over the apartment and strange holes drilled in the ceiling. As for the pills, the guy was in the pharmacy business. And messy. As for the ceiling holes, maybe they were from hanging plants, a hammock, workout equipment, or even some type of BDSM contraption. Unless she or someone else saw what the holes were used for, it’s a moot point. Or maybe they are bullet holes. If that is the case, there should be evidence. It still doesn’t prove anything, but it is one more item to add to the mystery.

With all that said, it might be understandable why the police officer dismissed it. I agree with those that encourage the apt. manager to contact Home Security (if you are in the US). Let the proper officials decide whether it is worth investigating or not.

@Pied_Pieffer, that could all be true. I’m not trying to convict the guy, I just think it deserves investigating, with the combination of information we have. Chances are it’s innocent, but someone should be interested in looking at it.
By the way, the FBI didn’t care, but homeland security did, and they want my property manager to call back with more info like date of birth, amounts and dates of the money transfers ect.

@Judi I’m with you friend. And wow…thanks for the update! Personally, I would sleep better at night if I stuck to finding the appropriate party that shared my concern and was willing to check it out. Please pass on to the apt. manager that I respect her for pursuing this, with your help, of course.

Well, when she called back, no one wanted to talk to her, even with the reference number and kept giving her the run around. I told her to try again.

She finally got someone to take the information. No promises if it will be followed up or not. We are leaving the apartment vacant for a few days, taking lots of pictures, and samples of the hair and another white powder that she found a few piles of throughout the property. If they don’t contact us within the next few days we will get the apartment ready for the next resident. She already has a deposit on it.

The drilled holes in the ceiling really bother me. A la Pacific Heights Practice? But for what? A great mystery. Keep us informed!

No upstairs resident. It’s single level. Thats a good thing.

All of this MIGHT be innocent but why not let people trained to evaluate it have access to all of it.

If there had been a little more follow up done on the red flags raised by some students taking flying instructions who were not concerned about learning how to land the plane, things may have turned out very differently.

Better safe than sorry. Good for you for being thorough and diligent in your documenting and picture taking. And good for you for following through.

If this is truly an innocent situation, then that will be the end of it. If not, at least you did your part.

Update: I got a call from Homeland Security today and they came out within a half an hour. They also brought the FBI. Apparently, the powdered black hair dye can be a component in bombs. I also found newspapers saying “our goal is to destroy the west. ”
They said that the guy is now in Dubai. They took all the stuff that he left in the apartment. They thanked us for being diligent in persuing the matter and said “next time don’t touch anything.” I told them that we didn’t touch anything until we kept being told that no one was interested.
I feel better now. At least someone is looking into it.

@Judi A big thank you for the diligence that you and the apt. manager have displayed in following through on this matter. It is through the concern that you two have shown that the world might become a safer place. And thank you for keeping us posted. It might inspire others to act upon their instincts.

Great job @Judi ! and thanks!

Hey, good job @Judi and @manolla I’d hate to live the the same apartment complex or work in the same building as you.

Thanks @klutzaroo for the link, by the way. That is where I finally got someone to respond.

Thanx for the update. It’s good to know that all the tax dollars being poured into HS is doing some good.

You’re welcome. :)