Cindy, I think you did us all a huge favor by posting as you did. Better to bring out the suspicions and discuss them than to worry about them all alone. It's been a valuable experience working through this together, and I think the good that's come from it has far outweighed any negative aspects.

I knew a guy on another board who couldn't type and who had to use voice recog software - it was very obvious from his emails that something was off (as it just wasn't worth his trouble to edit). If someone had told me years ago that Gus used voice recog it would have immediately pinged me.

I have a friend who used it and it took some months of training (during which time I was called shoe, sui and show), but it became pretty accurate. However, her emails were often brief and to the point. I'm not sure if she's still using it (I shall ask), but I got an email from her today that was letter perfect, except that it was all lower case.

Oh, I decided not to ask my sister to check the state records people in Madison, as I consider it unlikely to produce anything. (Unless someone here really wants to know right away, in which case I could ask her if it's not too much trouble.) We could still request a death certificate for WI by mail or fax (and MN too) if we wanted to.

Several (at least) people had the name Guy Straley for Gus before this, so that part, at least, seems pretty verified.

Well, yeah, but. Not to stir crap up even more, but I have a pretty long-standing internet identity as Consuela Clabby. It's not my name. It's a name I invented for reasons of personal security and anonymity on the net. I have subscribed to a number of services under that name, and published under it as well, and if you google that name, you'll find stuff. But you won't find me.

Maybe "Guy Straley" isn't Gus' name any more than "Gus" was.

Perhaps I'm overthinking this, but I'm beginning to suspect we're never going to know the truth, especially if the gentleman is, in fact, dead. Kimi appears to have no interest in returning to enlighten us.

Maybe "Guy Straley" isn't Gus' name any more than "Gus" was.

You make good points, but it does seem exceedingly odd that kimi would go through the trouble to insist he had a real name and that we should call him by it, and then provide us with a fake name, even if it is the fake name he always used on the Internet.

Cindy, I'm glad you posted initially (even if I was a little surprised by it at the time), and I'm very glad you posted just now.

This is a really difficult situation -- I don't know if it's worse for someone who hasn't been through it before, or for someone who has. Either way, it's a loaded issue with a lot of levels, and I for one think the conversation in here has been, mostly, respectful, calm, and well-intended. And you were brave enough to get the ball rolling, so for that I thank you.

What's sad to me is that without the issue of Gus's death, real or otherwise, his posts apparently meant a lot to a lot of people, and even those who had doubts about the truthfulness of his stories let them lie because he wasn't ever mean, or provocative, or manipulative. And now that memory has been tainted, by him or someone else.

As a lurker, I really appreciate the way this was handled in the Bureaucracy thread rather than backchannel.

Not a lurker, clearly, but I agree with Margaret here. I am just not a backchannel person.

{{Cindy}} I have no idea what we will find out in the end, but I know you and others are in pain and this bothers me more than anything else. Thank you for your honest posts.

IIRC, he only mentioned the voice recognition awhile after the monkey incident. I thought his posts did get shorter and more cryptic as time went on.

This is what I remember, too.

I continue to be gratified by the way we're discussing this. I'm sorry it continues to be upsetting to some, but I think it's necessary for many more, to process and come to terms.

I have deep gratitude to everyone who's done internet search and phone contact.

We're not talking about just internet identity, though. We're talking about business transactions. The person we know as Gus was able to sign for Fedex packages and cash checks under the name of Guy Straley at the address we have from Brenda's company. While my company's correspondence with him was not physical, it was in a professional context.

We're not talking about just internet identity, though. We're talking about business transactions. The person we know as Gus was able to sign for Fedex packages and cash checks under the name of Guy Straley at the address we have from Brenda's company. While my correspondence with him was not physical, it was in a professional context.

Plus the phone # we have is tied to the name too, right?