Dead ends

31 July

Written by Mark Salcido

Dead ends. I’ve come across so many during my investigation into the disappearance of Robert Hurley that every time I think of his name I see a sign with the words “DEAD END” written in bold. There have been many things that I have come across in his journal but I can’t find the pieces that bring me any closer to his whereabouts.

After exhausting all of the means I could think of, I decided to ask for the aid of the person that tackled the task of finding Hurley before I came on board, Lauren Saccone. I had studied many of her notes taken during her investigation but I needed her to answer a burning question. Why did she leave the investigation and what did she find that spooked her so much to leave?

It wasn’t easy to get Lauren’s attention although Vitaly Sumin had given me multiple ways to contact her. Just as I started to give up, I noticed an email in my inbox. If Lauren wants to be found, she’ll contact you. That’s how her sudden response came across to me as I opened Lauren’s e-mail. The following are the email exchanges between Lauren and me.

I hear you were looking for me?

-Lauren

Hi Lauren,

My name is Mark Salcido and I’ve been hired to find Robert Hurley. Now I know you were given the task before, but abruptly quit in the middle of the investigation. Can you tell me why and what, if any, findings did you discover?

-Mark

Mark,

My first piece of advice is to stay away from this investigation. My second piece of advice is to stay away from this investigation. No good will come from seeking Robert Hurley. Some mysteries are best left unsolved.

-Lauren

Lauren,

Stay away? What did you find and are you saying my life might be in danger? I had heard that you were coming to the conclusion that Hurley’s disappearance might have been staged.

-Mark

Mark,

It’s not what I found. It’s what I didn’t find. There are more questions than answers to this story, and none of them lead to a good place.

‘Staged’ can have so many meanings. After all, there’s a movie that was staged, a play that was staged within a movie, and didn’t Shakespeare say life was but a play? So in a sense everything is staged. What happened to Hurley was… well, unfortunate, if I’m guessing correctly. There are more players in this game than you can imagine, and few of them have your best interests in mind. There’s a reason I’m no longer involved with this investigation. You’d be wise to do the same.

-Lauren

Lauren,

I’ll take that under advisement. But I have a question or two for you as I’m sure you’ve become involved in other affairs. I’ve been having these strange things happening around me. It’s about one of the investigators that was tasked to helping disappeared suddenly. When I tried to contact him through Skype, I kept getting this weird ominous sound through the call. And I have been getting this feeling that someone is watching me. Did that happen to you or you got that strange sense that someone or something was just around the corner waiting for you? Please tell me that I’m just being paranoid.

-Mark

Mark:

Walk away. It may already be too late for you, but you need to try. Nothing good will come of this investigation. It’s smarter and safer in the long run to give it up. There are always people watching. The problem is who is watching and why. Are they friend or foe? Are they protecting you or making sure you don’t get too close?

People disappear all the time. Don’t be one. I can’t make you listen, but think of what happened to Hurley.

-Lauren

After the last email from Lauren, I tried to keep the conversation going, but was unsuccessful. She had obviously gone as far out on a limb to try and help me as she was comfortable with. I read back through the emails regularly to see if I might have missed something she might have been trying to tell me without tipping anyone off. The lack of response had me thinking again that if Lauren wanted to be found…

“Think of what happened to Hurley.” Not one single question I had asked her about the ominous sounds had been answered, and now I have more than what I started with. What did she mean by that? Who could possibly be watching email exchanges between two people in their own personal email accounts? If the people who are no longer involved in the investigation can’t, or won’t, help me, then I have no choice but to put out ads seeking assistance from an outside source. Maybe a fresh perspective will get this investigation jump-started.

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