For a modest consideration, I'll swear I've seen any of you in the real world. For just a bit more, I'll say it was during the day and you were standing in full sunlight.

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Just caught up here.

When I heard the news, I was mourning Gus' death. I always enjoyed his posts.

Now, having read all this, I'm glad this was brought up because I never even considered it wasn't true. I'm usually more cynical about things I read on the internet, but the Buffistas have always made me let my guard down (which is a good thing.)

At this point, it's becoming incredibly likely there was some deception going on here. In the end, that doesn't matter so much because we were all entertained by Gus' stories, and while a couple people were inconvinienced, no one was actually hurt by his behavior.

What does matter to me is whether or not the real person behind the poster we knew as Gus is dead. There's deception and there's manipulation, and faking one's death falls firmly in the latter category for me. I'd hate for that to be the case, because as many others, I liked Gus. I wish we could take things at face value and mourn the loss of a witty and charming person we all knew instead of trying to pick apart every little detail and questioning the word of someone apparently deeply hurting from the loss of her loved one.

But considering the details he's shared with us about his life don't seem to be adding up despite people's best efforts to determine the truth, it seems to be pretty imperative we learn the answer to the big question at least. So I'm all for the continued detective work, and hope Gus and his family will forgive us our current skepticism if it all turns out to be true.

You know, Connie, you're one of the few Buffistas I've never met.

Regardless, tom, I don't think the accent, or any fakery is a good idea. You have truth on your side, and if you sound nervous, so be it? Someone is telling you a friend is dead, but you're seeing messages to the contrary, yet can't actually get in touch with your friend. You want to know if he's dead.

I agree. Lying rarely ever works in these situations. Fact is, most people are lousy at it.

Well, she's one on the West coast I haven't.

I agree. Lying rarely ever works in these situations. Fact is, most people are lousy at it.

Right. It's not like we're trying to trick someone into giving us information we're not supposed to know. It's a matter of public record. Someone we can't verify the authenticity of has told us our friend is dead. We'd like clarification. There's nothing sketchy going on there.

You know, Connie, you're one of the few Buffistas I've never met.

fnord I'm a sockpuppet artifact created by the software when it got bored.

OK, I just talked to someone at the Barron County Register of Deeds. They have no record of a Guy Straley passing away recently.

However, that's not 100% conclusive, as if he passed away in another county or another state, they say they wouldn't have record of it. (Which could have happened if he was seeking treatment at some other facility out of the county.)

The woman I talked to suggested I call the funeral home in Cameron. (If I understood her correctly, there's only one.) I don't have that number.

eta: The woman I talked to was very nice. She checked with someone and found out that since I only wanted confirmation, not a death certificate, she could tell me over the phone.

Thanks for calling, Tom. It's not a positive confirmation one way or the other, but it's useful information. Didn't die in Barron County.