

Steve Fossett may be alive, investigator claims - baha_man
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/28/fosset_claims/

======
jws
Title is incomplete... How about,

    
    
       Insurance company investigator blows enough smoke to defer paying $50m payout.
    

I particularly like the part where the air search guy asserts that find 6
previously unfound planes means they are "pretty good at what we do."

~~~
ajross
Indeed. From the article:

 _Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Ryan of the US Civil Air Patrol, who was involved
in the operation from the start, said: "I've been doing this search and rescue
for 14 years. Fossett should have been found. It's not like we didn't have our
eyes open. We found six other planes while we were looking for him. We're
pretty good at what we do."_

I like the clever citation of the fact that six (!) previous crashes have been
_missed_ by S&R personnel to argue that S&R efforts are robust and free of
errors. Now that's some prime-time quality spin. This woman needs to get out
of her CAP job and into politics where her skills can be properly appreciated.

~~~
alaskamiller
From what I understand from reading the articles a few months back, they were
able to find downed airplanes from a long time ago where technology weren't
capable or where manpower weren't expandable. So, yes, the fact that their
team was able to scour the vast areas of Nevada and recover multiple planes
should be indicative at least in a bit of how they really did try to find
Fosset.

Some other interesting details surrounding this:
[http://gawker.com/5029726/international-adventurer-may-
have-...](http://gawker.com/5029726/international-adventurer-may-have-faked-
his-own-death)

PS: Being in CAP _is_ equivalent of getting a political job where worthless
skills are appreciated.

~~~
baha_man
Interesting link, although the words 'News of the World' are a bit of a red
flag. Also, the 'evidence' they mention could just as well be taken as support
for suicide rather than a faked death.

------
sysop073
"We found six other planes while we were looking for him"

Seriously? Maybe people should fake their deaths more often, apparently it
really helps them out :)

~~~
baha_man
'Kim Toulouse, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, described
the empty valleys being scoured for the millionaire adventurer as an aviation
"graveyard".

"We're finding them left and right," he said. "The technology we have today is
allowing us to find this stuff." These wrecks are years, sometimes decades
old.'

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6987855.stm>

------
crocus
"Steve has not accessed any of his assets since his disappearance."

Interesting choice of words.

~~~
LogicHoleFlaw
Well, if you saw bank or credit card activity that would be a big red flag
that something fishy is going on.

~~~
jonknee
Correct, but it's phrased as if he's alive. Which helps make it sound more
fishy than it really is (not fishy at all).

------
nickb
I bet he's hiding out with Elvis in Mexico eating burgers and enjoying cheap
tequila.

Insurance companies will try to find any reason not to pay out...

------
ctingom
Maybe Google can find him, they're good at finding things. If not, try that
new search engine, Cuil.

~~~
ghiotion
Don't know why you're being downmodded. Personally, I think that's hilarious.

------
apstuff
Payouts are considered losses by insurance companies and $50M is a lot of
money. It's a legitimate question and probably standard policy to ask if a
claim is a scam.

