On October 12, 1997, the Greyhound Bus Company stole my Compaq Pentium 90 computer. As a result, I have not been able to update my web site regularly.
This happened somewhere between Jackson, Mississippi and Dallas, Texas. When I got on the bus in Jackson, I checked under the bus to make sure my Compaq computer was there. When I got off the bus in Dallas, the computer was gone.
I took the bus from New York to Dallas to visit my girlfriend, Passion Julinsey, who lives in Dallas. The bus stopped in Meridian, Mississippi, Monroe, Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana, Longview, Texas, Tyler, Texas and Dallas, Texas.
I have called all of these bus stations. They all deny having my computer.
I arrived in Dallas at 10:30 PM Sunday night.
I believe that the bus driver was involved in this. With great difficulty, I found out that his name is Tom Welch. He is white, about 5 foot 11 inches, about 45-50 years old, with wavy hair.
Here are the reasons that I believe that he was involved: He was the driver the entire way. My Compaq computer was in a large white box. Like a good boy, I had packed this two-year-old computer in its original box, as per instructions. However, this may have led the thief to believe that this was a new computer.
When I got off the bus in Dallas, I asked the driver what had happened to my computer. He brushed me off, telling me to look in the baggage area. Then he quickly jumped in the now empty bus and drove it away to the service area. My computer was not in the baggage area.
It took me more than one week to find out his name. This especially infuriated me because the name of the driver is supposed to be posted on the bus. (It was not). I insisted and demanded every day at the bus station that they give me the name of the driver. They refused.
When I finally found out his name on October 21, they told me that this had been his last run and he had gone on leave. He would not return to work until November 2.
I demanded that they call him at home and ask what had happened to my computer. The assistant manager, Larry Crater, told me that he would ask when he returned to work, but not before.
Obviously, Tom Welch will then say that he cannot remember, as three weeks will have passed.
Isn't it a strange coincidence that a bus driver just happens to take a three week vacation right after my computer is stolen?
The computer was in bus bin number two. Although the bus was a local bus and stopped in many small towns, I am told that bin number two should never have been opened until the final destination of Dallas was reached.
The box with the computer in it weighted exactly 60 pounds. I know this because originally it was overweight, so the Greyhound official in Washington DC where I originally boarded made me take out some of the contents to get the weight down to 60 pounds.
My baggage check number was AN775442.
My driver from Atlanta, Georgia to Jackson, Mississippi was a black man named Gutter, about 40 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall. He lives in Jackson. I know that because he said that he had to get home to watch the football game. I am sure that he did not steal my computer, but he might remember something about it.
Greyhound Bus informs me that they will pay my claim up to a maximum of $250 if my computer is not recovered within 60 days. I do not want their $250. That computer cost $2000 when new. More than that, it has all my data, including all my 600 web pages, plus all my accumulated e-mail, all my data files, plus $50,000 worth of proprietary secret computer software which I have been developing.
I want my damn computer back. Greyhound Bus obviously thinks that this is a big joke.
Let me make this perfectly clear: If the Greyhound Bus Company does not get me my computer back damn quick, I will blast it all over the Internet that Greyhound Bus stole my computer. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. I WILL REALLY DO IT.
To Tom Welch: I have found out that your telephone number is not listed, but I want you in here damn quick, or I will have your ass in jail.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?
If anybody wants to help, call Cedric Williams, Senior Manager, 4th Floor, One Dallas Center, 350 N. St. Paul, Dallas, Texas 75266, (214) 849-8204.
Bug the shit out of him until he gives me my computer back.
Sam Sloan
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