Googling For Prospective Date Unmasks Fugitive

pgrote writes "So you're a guy on the run - you decide to switch towns, put down some roots and start dating again. But if your special new friend happens to be someone who checks her potential dates by searching on Google, you're in trouble. Seems that LaShawn Pettus-Brown was caught by his date's discovery of him on an FBI site of fugitives, even after local Cincinnati news media couldn't find him. Score one for the Internet."

Comments

phew!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow. That's even worse than finding your wifes picture on a dating site!!!

What if she finds out...

[nmoog]

...that I post to slashdot. Oh dear.

rofl!

[f13nd]

owned by a geek-chick

Technology is a double edged sword..

[grub]

1980: Do you have Herpes?

1986: Do you have AIDS?

1995: I have pepper spray.

2004: I have Google.

Oh well.. at least RealDolls can't use search engines.. yet..

Re:Technology is a double edged sword..

[thdougherty]

Oh if only I knew of RealDolls before I got married...

They're so lifelike!!!

Re:Technology is a double edged sword..

[kfg]

Don't be silly. They never say a word.

KFG

Re:Technology is a double edged sword..

[CoolVibe]

And how exactly is that a bad thing? If only some women in my life had a mute button.

(I am trying to be funny here, no disrespect, just brainless male bushido)

Re:Technology is a double edged sword..

[Dukael_Mikakis]

I guess it's just a sign of the times. Previously, it seems that nobody had to worry about diseases and a criminal history and everything (well, diseases because we didn't know many of them existed), but this is certainly because people wouldn't travel as much and tended to know their dates for a long time before they began dating.

Now, people are dating others whom they haven't even met, and who might be only telling lies to them, so clearly there's a need for this.

It's like an incorporation of romance and love. If you're running a small business or a small store, you will very likely know your customers (and employees) very well and be able to trust them without too many problems, but when business scale up and become increasingly large, there's no way that you can account for all of the people, or know them personally, and so there's record-keeping and spying and every such thing.

Obviously with online (or more anonymous) dating you have access to so many more potential mates, which improves selection and makes things somewhat easier, but all the anonymity and deception makes me wonder if this whole trend is actually a good thing or not.

But all this doesn't affect me. Joining slashdot is like taking a vow of celibacy.

Re:Technology is a double edged sword..

[Plugh]

I'll throw my US$0.02, what the hell. Maybe my story is worth something to somebody:

Obviously with online (or more anonymous) dating you have access to so many more potential mates, which improves selection and makes things somewhat easier, but all the anonymity and deception makes me wonder whether if this whole trend is actually a good thing or not.

In my personal experience, it's just like globalization and open markets: real scary if you are engaged in deception, and absolutely fantastic if you want lots of choice.

A few years ago, in my early thirties, I decided it was finally time to find a wife. I was (finally) ready to commit. My parents urged me to "shop around". So I did, using means an admittedly very shy geek can do: online sites (ie, match.com) and personal-intro services (ie, Table For Six).

To make a long story short, I met a lot more women in a few months than I had in the previous 10 years, despite my introverted nature. After dating a few of them, I wound up marrying a very nice woman. And -- please forgive me, I cannot resist saying this -- she's a stunning blonde, tall, gorgeous, busty, and has a degree in mathematics. Ca-Ching!

Probably I shouldn't post this and probably most people will assume I'm an ad-bot, but the 2 or 3 people who know me that read slashdot know I'm on the level.

Anyway, I'm all for improving selection and making things easier. Go for it. If you're introverted like myself, it could be the difference between passing along your genes or not! Hell, we desperately need smart people to procreate...

Re:Technology is a double edged sword..

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you please show off and post a picture of your wife? I think you should be less introverted and be proud of the great person she is. Thanks.

P.S. Don't forget the picture. Thanks.

Re:Technology is a double edged sword..

[Darken_Everseek]

eh ... just brainless male "code of the warrior"?

I suppose that's -one- way of looking at pissing off a large group of females. Really though, I think Hari-kiri might be the better term for that activity though.

Re:Technology is a double edged sword..

[LittleGuy]

Now, people are dating others whom they haven't even met, and who might be only telling lies to them, so clearly there's a need for this.

This has been going on since at least the mid-16th Century, complete with their version of Photoshop.

Major Major Major

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, I bet this guy is wishing his parents had given him a more common name than "LaShawn Pettus-Brown"...

Re:Major Major Major

[robbyjo]

I bet this guy is wishing his parents had given him a more common name

Yeah, like... Anonymous Coward... That would score 138K hits in Google

IQ test

[Lurkingrue]

OK -- now how stupid is a fugitive for giving his real name to anyone?

Re:IQ test

[rosie_bhjp]

Even more stupid is the City of Cincinnati. They gave this guy $180k+ in loans without doing so much as a background check. A brief background is here. As a citizen of Cincinnati, I've been following this case and I am absolutely dumbfounded at the ineptness of all the people involved. It really is mind-boggling. They were so concerned about cutting through the bureaucratic red tape they forgot the red tape was there for a reason.

Re:IQ test

[eric2hill]

I called our phone company at work and asked if they sold Caller IQ because, as I explained, there are many idiots at our office and I would like to screen my callers based on their IQ. The sales person didn't have it available yet. Dammit.

Re:IQ test

[HoldenCaulfield]

The theater thing is a black eye, but man, did it have potential. The movie Traffic was set in Cinci, and supposedly the scenes where she's walking down the street to get some cocaine or what not were filmed on Vine. The part of Vine where the theater is located is the kind of street where you'll have cars crawling along, crowds on the sides of the street, and people yelling out "what you need? what you need?" as you drive on by. I've never had any one actually approach my vehicle with a bucket of dirty water and a rag, but that's the kind of feeling it has.

It's an area that could really use some development, besides the stores selling gold chains, caps, and clothing with wrought iron grates in their windows and doors. The theater was pitched as a venue that would start the revitalization process and bring more business to that part of town. (Sort of like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the new baseball stadium helped downtown Cleveland.)

Maybe I just bought into Brown's hype, but I really did think there was potential - the building is a classic old theater, that still has it's marquee outfront. I could have seen it becoming a nice concert venue - I think because of the large marquee outfront, I always envisoned it becoming something like the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.

Of course, it could have ended up like Bogarts and Short Vine, but I'd say that's much better than the feeling one has driving down Vine . . .

You have to wonder

[nizo]

If your potential date discovers you sell penis enlargement items on the internet for a living, will that help or hurt your chances?

Hrm

[iswm]

I would think getting your name changed would help quite a bit. Seems kind of silly to post your real name in the google personals if you're wanted by the FBI.

That's not me...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's just someone with my name... and my picture... and my fingerprints.

All backwards!

[Complicity]

...was caught by his date's discovery of him on an FBI site of fugitives...

Hmmm, I wonder how many people use the FBI Fugitive List in order to find potential dates...

I had a similar experience

[TekZen]

When I was in the market for my first house (9 months ago), I thought I had found the perfect house.

Then I searched Google for the address and learned that the previous owner had died in the house.

He was in the attic working on the electrical when a small fire broke out. He got the fire out but died from the smoke.

His father was selling the house.

It was all a little too much for me.

-Jackson

Re:I had a similar experience

[wass]

If you're not superstitious or spooked by that sort of stuff, it's a great way to get a cheap house. This girl I know just bought a rowhouse at about half the market value because the previous owner hung himself. The fact wasn't announced, but she happened to ask the listing agent why the price was so low, so they were required to answer.

The awkward thing is that one one of her friends, while helping her move in, took a swig from the 7-Up bottle in the fridge. Turns out that bottle of 7-Up was part of the dead former owner's last meal.

Re:I had a similar experience

[AvantLegion]

If you're not superstitious or spooked by that sort of stuff, it's a great way to get a cheap house.

Not to mention the Coolest House Evar.

Charge goths and New Age geeks to hold seances there every Thursday night. Pretty soon, the already-cheap house will pay itself off!

Built-in excuse to keep away unwanted guests! "No, mother of my wife, I don't think you should stay, because our house reeks of death."

Great for scaring children and keeping them out of the flower beds! "Yes Billy, the owner of the house before the Johnsons really did die in there".

The possibilities are endless. There need to be real estate websites with these sort of listings! Heck, when the next Dot-Com era comes, I'll start one!

Double edge sword

[cybermint]

The internet has great power, indeed. But this power is not without detriment, namely to privacy. While I may sleep a little better knowing a fugative has been brought to justice, I am also worried about how my own personal information may be widely available to those who would use it maliciously. Not trying to make any conclusions here; just food for thought.

Darwin Award potential here

[John Jorsett]

Only a moron would use his real name when he's on the lam. I can go to several locations in my city and come away with an authentic-looking drivers's license, social security card, whatever. Hell, I can even get a Mexican Matricula Consular card, even though you can read in the dark by my skin color. This woman deserves a reward for removing this guy's genes from the pool, even if temporarily.

I guess I'm safe

[G-funk]

I used to be the top result from google, but now it's some tennis player. I'm on the first page, but it's not my homepage, just something I posted to a PHP mailing list a thousand years ago.

Seriously tho, anybody who dates somebody off the internet without at least having a go at googling their name, is nearly as stupid as anybody who's got an outstanding arrest warrant and gives out their real name.

Re:BE CAREFUL OF LINK!

[Anonymous Coward]

Porn? It's not porn! It's just a website where lonely geeks can find a friend who is rather...easy to burst into flames if too close to a fire. That's discrimination, brother!

Unbelievably cheap bastard

[SysKoll]

From the article: The city lost more than $184,000 on the project after investing heavily in Pettus-Brown's failed plan to rehabilitate the 90-year-old theater on Vine Street. The FBI has said that nearly $93,000 of the money the city paid Pettus-Brown is missing.

So the guy steals about 100K and invites a date to freaking Applebee?! EIther he's really a cheap bastard or he already spent it all.

Men these days. You cannot even get a French restaurant date out of a rich thief anymore.

Hey, read the article!

[marnanel]

If the Cincinatti media had googled him, they'd have found exactly what they already knew: that there was a warrant out for his arrest. The only sort of person who could have found both halves of the story by googling is the sort of person who did: someone who knew him and his whereabouts personally, but needed Google to tell her that he was a fugitive.

Googling for dates?

[artemis67]

Hmmm... could be interesting... lemesee...

+blonde +thirtysomething +"blue eyes" -kids +"36 24 36" -smoker +5'11" +model +"into geeky guys"

Wha? Zero results?

Re:Googling for dates?

[utahjazz]

Afer triimming this down to "+blonde, +"blue eyes" - kids - smoker +model +"into geeky guys", Google said:

Do you mean "+blonde, +"blue eyes" - kids - smoker +modell +"Greek guys"?

My God that's dissapointing, Damn racist computer program engine favors some crappy island over it's own maker.

I think Captian Kirk had something to say on the subject. Can't...find...link....

LaShawn

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a little offtopic, and a trifle condescending, but do we care enough about children not to give them asinine names?
How many Trawandas, DeLeroys, and Yasomethins do we need?
When you're thinking about naming your twins Orangello and Lemonjello , you should first consider whether or not sharing your genetic information is wise.
True, sex feels great, but consider the ascetic pleasure of knowing that you chose not to pass on a taste for absurd names to your progeny. Europe is clearly leading in this area.
I don't know if this is becasue the women are just too chic to consider motherhood, the men are too busy planting their seed where it cannot grow, or they are simply given to better taste.
Regardless, please do us all a favor and get a proper book of names, and don't give a child a name that is going to raise hackles for their whole life.
There are far better ways to express individuality than naming a poor infant LeDeZeppelin.
Thank you for your attention.
FINEX RANTEX

Re:BE CAREFUL OF LINK!

[kfg]

No, it's a sex toy site. The sex toys just happen to look like naked women.

Yes, some might well consider that pornographic. Others might simply consider it a display of wares.

Yeah, it's not safe for work so your warning is valid. No, I'm not just being pedantic. I really thought your post might need a little clarifying.

Yes, I've looked. Big deal.

KFG

Maybe it works the other way as well.

[Karplusan]

Hmmm, so if girls check google on their guys... Say, how does one go about getting their webpage put in the top of Google? I was thinking of trying to register http://www.heisthebest.com/ and of course, put my name all over it. I see no flaws in my plan.

Re:Now that's journalism

[LanceTaylor]

The newpaper editor Googling skills might have improved, but not their proofreading skills.

Neither have yours... ;-)

Re:BE CAREFUL OF LINK!

[martinX]

who the hell would look at naked dolls

Ken?

Re:Now that's journalism

[Awptimus Prime]

If they would have done a google search on him, they just would have found news articles.

His new home address didn't show up, nothing about his new home was there. This was pretty much left for anyone who had just met him to give 'em the google to find out he's in trouble.

What this article demonstrates is quite easily summed up in one phrase: ignorant sensationalism

There is a trait highly common in criminals

[Sycraft-fu]

They are dumb. Seriously. If all criminals were highly intelligent, we'd be in real trouble. Fortunately, most are pretty stupid. Hence, they make stupid mistakes, and those mistakes lead to their arrest and conviction. Real life is usually not like Law and Order where the cops have to untangle a complecated web to get at the truth, usually the criminals do something really dumb that leads right too them.

That's not to say there haven't been some really smart crooks, the smartest of which we likely know nothing of, but 99.99% of them are dumb.

So no, this is not at all supprising.

Re:There is a trait highly common in criminals

[blockhouse]

99.99% of them are dumb.

99.99% of the criminals we catch and convict are dumb.

Smart criminals are smart enough not to get caught. Heck, you never hear about the smart criminals, because no one suspects smart criminals of criminal activity.

I did the same thing with a neighbor...

[John_McKee]

After having some suspicions about a neighbor, I too decided to run her though Google. The search brought up this Article http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Katherine+Saddle r&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=199808 1213325800.JAA00250%40ladder01.news.aol.com&rnum=1 (Her name is Katherine Sadler), the relevent part being

"Another accused hooker, Katherine Saddler, 35, answered the phone at Sunnymede.

"When we have something to say, we'll say it," said Saddler, who was also
charged with possession of nine bags of heroin. "

Yep, that was my neighbor. A few more searches resulted in two open arrest warrents for her in NJ, time spent in prison, and several other convictions of assult and death threats. So the moral of the story is, if you have suspicions, it doesn't hurt to take 1 minute to run a quick google search.

Just don't post it to Slashdot using your name

[xixax]

... and several other convictions of assult and death threats. So the moral of the story is, if you have suspicions, it doesn't hurt to take 1 minute to run a quick google search.

Just don't post the results to Slashdot using your real name in case your neighbours are also using Google to check you out.

Maybe seed Google with your own bogus details, "John is Amish and does not own any consumer electronics worth stealing, he has a black belt in Karate and breeds rattlesnakes as a hobby..."

Xix.

There's a common acronym for a SMART crook....

[raehl]

CEO

Data minning 101

[Felinoid]

The problem with the search is it's way too spec.

All a girl has to be is an inch off and the search fails.
Also if she says "I'm into brainy guys", "I'm into nerdy guys" or "Geeks make me hot" the search fails... Not that I'd expect anyone to say "geeks make me hot" just giving an example...

As for the "Into geek guys" forget it she's gone by now... Every Slashdot geek had sent her a preposal.... well ok I'm more a tweek thow.. (Diffrence between me and a geek? I've got less brains and I'm insain...).

+blonde +thirtysomething +"blue eyes" -kids +"36 24 36" -smoker +5'11" +model +"into geeky guys"

Ok let's try remaking this to be a more realistic search ok?

+blonde This is fine.. Every "yellow" haired woman calls herself blonde.

+thirtysomething Changes are you'll get her exact age why should she even bother with the term "thirtysomething" strike it..

+"blue eyes" ok... A bit exssesive but the search would work...

-kids This is vage enough it will block all "with kids" it will also knock out "Not ready for kids" or "can't stand kids"... But it's a reasonable filter we can knock it out later.. if needed.

"36 24 36" Are we searching for a date or giving specs for a fembot? Human beings aren't going to fit an exact mold. Strike it...

-smoker Like kids this filters "I am a smoker" and "I am not a smoker"... This is probably not the kind of thing you want to filter... Leave it in for first search.

+5'11" Ahem.. So if she's 5'10" or 6'" your not intrested?
+5' This will give you everyone who is 5 foot...

+model Ahem.. are we searching for dates or phone sex? If she says she's a model she is eather lying or to busy to actually date.
Strike it...

+"into geeky guys" Way to detailed... She'd have to actually use that exact phrase.

Try just +geek.. This will scoop up "I'm a geek girl looking for a geek guy"

Now we have: +blonde +"blue eyes" -kids +5' +geek

1,630 results.... Exelent...
Now I can screen them by hand for... dear god no Huston we have a problem.

+woman

1,060 results... Good.

Let's trim this down a tad +female. The search results still had to many guys "looking for a woman"... Just need to imprint on the search the importance of finding a FEMALE date..

Ok to many unrelated results... Oh sure I like "Buffy the vampire slayer" but reading about how much fans like Spike dose not get me anywhere.

+dating

Well.. I'll ferther refine this but that will be to my personal tasts...
Damn it thow.. I find a post on Japanise intrested in western and it's Japanise MEN looking for western wemen.
Oh the +blond thing kinda makes that not happen anyway.

I'm srapping "blue eyes" becouse I don't care about eye color.. Then add +California becouse that is where I live.

424 results... I'll be refining this all freaking night...

Well I found this nifty link and I can finish my search that way.

And that is how you ue google to find a date.
Oh dear god I'm pathetic... Finding dates by computer... I'm affrade I need to bash my self senseless now.

sex offender database

[humankind]

If you really want to get freaked out here's where you can check out what kind of neighbors you have.

Re:BE CAREFUL OF LINK!

[NanoGator]

"(not that I looked ...)"

I think your pants are on fire.

Googling bad eBayers and scammers

[adzoox]

I often google problematic eBayers and scammers email addresses - I would say 1/2 the time I get good results and 1 in 10 I get VERY interesting results.

For instance - one time I had an eBayer email me telling me I should be ashamed for selling a Bang & Olufsen turntable at the price I was selling it at. Turns out - it was HIS that he sold to someone in Charlotte (nearby) - they in turn sold it to a Pawn Shop - I bought it for a deal (under $100) - come to find out - he only got $35 for it on eBay - he had left negative feedback for the buyer because the buyer made him sell it to him (he didn't have a reserve. To make a long story longer - It turns out he starts harassing my bidders, telling them not to buy from me. I google and find something similar to this with his email address attached.

Gay male looking in Colorado (Denver Area) for discreet meetings - no kinky stuff but very adventurous. Since he had bid in my auction (fraudulently) I instantly ended the auction and made him the winner by cancelling other bids. I threatened to post the information to several websites and his feedback. I never heard from him again.

I have ALWAYS googled anyone's email address before I met them from match.com - although usually a girl's email address won't show up with any results.

I occasionally google my email address and always get new stuff - usually 4-5 of my slashdot replies show up.