I knew it was going to be tough to find him but was confident that he would get picked up by the police. It’s pretty tough to hide from a warrant when you’re living in a car. John was another example of how I get to know someone without actually meeting them. When you’re trying to find someone you spend a great deal of time talking to their friends and family and you inevitably learn a lot about them – their habits, where they hang out and what kind of person they are. I never judge anyone because they have been arrested, I judge them on how they live their life and how they treat the people around them. I learned that John was a decent guy who, like most of us, was struggling with life.

The most recent information told me that John left the San Jose area and went to Richmond to find work. I continued to check in with his friends and family and was hoping that he would either call me or tell someone where he was working. I was just waiting for something to point me in his direction. That never happened and last week I learned that John had been brutally murdered in Berkeley. I can’t go in to too many details about his murder but it touched me and I wonder, if I had worked this case a bit harder would he still be alive?