The Forgotten Man

Her finger traced down the page.

"- Temecula, California. He filed an appropriate change of address, and his checks were redirected to Temecula, where the checks continued until 1975, at which time we discovered that a theft was taking place and terminated the payments."

I looked up, and discovered Marjorie and Brasher watching me.

"What theft?"

Brasher said, "Rei

Marjorie interrupted. She was guarding the hospital's liability base like a Gold Glove third baseman.

"If Mr. Rei

Brasher went on.

"Right, so we continued sending the checks to Temecula, only Rei

"Rei

"So far as was known, yes. All we know is what we've read in the file, Mr. Cole. None of us were here at that time."

Marjorie said, "I was in junior high."

I stared at the page as if I were studying it, but mostly I was giving myself time to think. George Rei

Marjorie Lawrence opened the file again, and this time she took out a bound collection of newspaper clippings.

"These were in our files. They're news clippings of Jordan 's arrest and prosecution. Maybe they will help you, Mr. Cole."

Marjorie Lawrence brought me to an empty conference room, and left me with the file.

28

The file contained eleven yellowed newspaper articles, all clipped from the San Diego Union -Tribune and filed by date. The first piece reported that an unemployed electrician named Todd Edward Jordan had been charged with theft, forgery, and mail fraud for cashing insurance-settlement checks intended for a former tenant of the house Jordan rented. The facts were light, indicating that the reporter had filed his piece before he knew of Rei

The next story stopped me cold-

Forgery Victim Still Missing

by Eric Weiss

San Diego Union-Tribune

Six years ago, George Rei

Todd Edward Jordan, 38, has been charged with forging Rei

Sheriffs investigators do not believe Jordan had anything to do with Rei

"Mr. Jordan responded to an ad in a local paper, and rented the house. We don't believe he ever met Mr. Rei

Rei

"Todd was a good tenant. He was polite, and his rent was on time."

According to Izzatola, Rei

"The rent was late, so I went to ask about it. The house was empty. They left without saying a word."

Rei

"The neighbors complained about George and his kid. They even called the cops a couple of times. Maybe one of the neighbors got fed up and ran them off."

According to Poole, Sheriffs investigators tried to locate Rei

Poole said, "A man doesn't walk away from free money like this. Rei

Anyone with knowledge of George Rei

I walked the length of the conference room, and listened to the silence. It was a lovely conference room with lush carpet and richly upholstered chairs. The kind of conference room where important decisions were made.

Anyone with knowledge of George Rei

I went back to my chair.

Rei

The next three stories recounted more or less the same details as Jordan 's prosecution proceeded. Jordan initially denied forging the checks; bank records indicated a steady deposit history of like amounts into Jordan's account; Jordan's handwriting matched the endorsements on the checks; Jordan claimed no knowledge of Rei

No One Waved Good-bye

by Eric Weiss

San Diego Union-Tribune

George Rei

"People move all the time," said Detective Martin Poole of the San Diego County Sheriffs Department. "But this one has us baffled."

The police might be baffled, but when George Rei

After ten years in the small rented house on Adams Drive in Temecula, the Rei

"George was sullen and unfriendly, and I tried to avoid David," said Mrs. Alma Sims, 48, the Rei

She recalls the time David Rei

"David was walking in the middle of the street and he wouldn't move to the side. When I beeped my horn, he started making faces at me, but he still didn't get out of the way. I tried to go around him, but he stayed in front of the car, calling me the most terrible names. He was out of control."

That night, when Mrs. Sims' husband, Warren, went next door to discuss the matter with Mr. Rei

Mrs. Sims said, "George was defensive and belligerent when it came to David. No matter what David had done, if you tried to say something, George would act threatening."