Chapter Four... Someone's Got to Admit to It.

I got home from my trip anxious to find some answers. I called the detective and asked some questions about what's next in the investigation, what new info do we have, and what are the charges and repercussions for the person who did this?


The detective, still leading me to believe he was convinced it was G who did this, or at least G knew something about who did, answered all my questions and told me he'd be speaking with G this week. He also informed me that the charges were "theft of identity with the intent to harm" (exact wording may be off) and "harrassment." The identity theft is a felony, and that carries a maximum 1 to 3 years in prison. The harrassment charge is a misdemeanor (basically) that would result in fines. Both could be pleaded down.


The detective suggested I may want to let my social group know this info. It could scare the person who did it into admitting it. At this point, so many weeks after this began, I was so weighted and emotional that I just wanted to know who did it. I didn't need anyone to go to jail, I just didn't want to keep wondering. I talked with C, and we pulled the gang all together. For the first time in weeks, I had to contact G. I asked him to please come to the guys' apartment. He said he would.


It was awkward and uncomfortable. C was no longer showing me the strong friendship and support he had been, which confused and saddened me, and I still didn't know for sure who was responsible for all this. I was desperate to have the past month just erase from our history. I wanted to go back to the complete happiness I had felt on the day before this began.


When I laid it all out on the table for this group of my friends, I didn't use names. C knew all the info I did, but no one else. When I mentioned the IP address connection, G is the one who owned up to it being his. He denied having done the post, but he looked a bit scared. Then he started complaining about how scary and uncomfortable it is to have the detective question him. He was denying having posted the ad, but saying he was nervous the police would take it to court without a thorough investigation. He even said he would just admit to it so I can end the investigation, even though he didn't do it.


This angered me. I told him so. This isn't about you being uncomfortable that a detective had to question you BECAUSE YOUR IP ADDRESS IS WHERE THE CRAIGSLIST AD CAME FROM. This is about my whole social world (which, quite frankly, felt like my whole world) being stripped from me. Friendships broken, trust shattered. I'm barely keeping my head above water, and you're complaining about a detective questioning you? Unbelievable.

After a while, when no one confessed or said they had info about it, I headed home. One month to the day after all this started, I still didn't know for sure who was responsible.


And then my phone rang at 6:30 the next morning.

It was G.



I didn't answer.