A “detective” badge!

We all are detectives... at one time or another! Whether it’s looking for our cell phones or the name of someone we’ve just met.
I had organized a meeting with a Vice President of the MN Super Bowl Host Committee for our local TRIAD - citizens and law enforcement partnership.
But I didn’t catch one glitch until several hours later.

Whoops!

I had taken a picture of a few of the people at the meeting who were graciously willing to pose for our monthly “Wanted Poster”. This is the promo for our next meeting.
Of course I needed their names for the accompanying newspaper article. You guessed it.
I forgot to ask one man his last name.
I didn’t realize this until I was home and choosing which picture to use.

The “detective” work starts...

As I was enlarging the picture I noticed the stranger, who I knew as Hal, was wearing a cap that identified a local business.
I wondered if he might be known by them?
So I called the company and asked if they could guess who “Hal” might be.
Keep in mind that this is a small town and they know me and we didn’t have any security issues at hand.
They gave me a name that was a “possible” but they hadn’t seen the
picture.

The next step...

I knew approximately where he lived so I went online and found a person in that area with a similar name.
I tried to find his phone number so I could check with him but it said he didn’t have a land line. (This was apparently not correct.)

Facebook can help?

I went on Facebook and found a person with the same last name from this area and “messaged” them as to whether they knew this person.
They didn’t know him. Their relatives were further north.
I went online again.
This time I found a phone number with the possible location. Called it.
It had been disconnected.

More detective work...

I remembered he had said he had read about the meeting in the Beacon. I had some files checked and found a different phone number for the same address.
But no answer.
Time after time... day after day.
(Later found that this was another wrong number.)

ACKKKKK!

This mystery man is tangling up my brain.
I checked out the plat site on the county’s website ... but couldn’t figure it
out.
Dug out an old plat book - found his property... section number... but it
was an old book. Maybe he wasn’t still there.

Finally...

Went back on Facebook and asked my local friends if they knew of anyone living in this specific area who was named Hal?
They did!
They recognized the man in the picture!

Not so easy...

The first phone number I received was for another fellow - but that was fun because he was a friend of mine I hadn’t talked to for years!
Then when I tried another number I had to leave a message on their cell phone. But I’ll keep trying.
Unless someone knows differently, it appears I have found Hal Harrison! He will be featured on the next Cannon Falls Area TRIAD’s “Wanted Poster”!
                                                   *****
     I think I should get a “detective” badge!  

    Mystery man... Hal Harrison of Cannon Falls, second from left, with some of the folks posing for the next “Wanted Poster” for the local TRIAD group. L-R: Goodhue County Deputy Tom Wolner, Harrison, Kyle Chank, a VP of the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee and his girl friend, Jordan Howard.