then came the ransom note

FBI may be near solving case of missing pilot
By Mike Celizic
March. 4, 2009

"Nearly a year after a young Florida businessman was apparently kidnapped, the FBI has gone to the public appealing for leads that agents believe will finally crack the case.

“If there was any case that the public should call and get involved in, it's this case, because we are so close to getting the situation resolved,” David Couvertier of the FBI said in a Tampa press conference Tuesday....

Within days of the disappearance, his family received a ransom note and attempted to follow its demands. But they received no further communications and the trail went cold.

Complicating the case is the fact that someone sent a ransom note, but then cut off communications.

‘When that communication is broken off, it’s usually for one of three reasons,” Clint Van Zandt explained. “Either the kidnappers had lost control of the victim; they were afraid that if they were in contact, that would lead to their arrest; or, in a worst-case scenario like in the JonBenet Ramsey case, where a note had been left, something had already happened to the victim.”..."