I'm going to repost my comment from the front page article:
Quote:
Assuming the car he was driving wasn't stolen and that it's registered in one of the surrounding counties, the police should be able to narrow down a list of suspects as follows:
-year range of VW Golf (e.g. Mk iii, iv, v...)
-black
-cross reference registration with licenses
-narrow licenses by male
-narrow licenses by height range
-the population of the surrounding area is ~2mil so I'm guessing this will leave you with ~100-200 people which could be narrowed down to probably ~20-40 if you're more certain of his height and he's in the 6'3-6'5" range and not 6'2"-6'4" range. You should be able to use objects in the video to measure his height fairly accurately.
-see how many have listed phone numbers, search craigslist etc. If the number shows up (on almost any listing) you might have your perp. If not, there's a good chance you've further narrowed your list.
It's not full-proof by any means but it's worth a shot. If it doesn't appear the police are doing anything, a private eye/private detective should have the resources necessary to conduct the above search.
Good luck in recovering your baby :)
Honestly, this video gives even more to go on. That's a black, four-door, VW Golf
and I'm 95% sure it's a Mk 7(
wiki). If she (or anyone) takes a screenshot at 1:39 and goes to a VW dealer, they'll be able to tell you what trim level it is based on those wheels and maybe a few other things. Even in an area like San Francisco and the surrounding municipalities, there will not be that many registrations. Cross reference white male, early 30s to late 40s and that list will grow smaller still. Narrow down by height and you'll be left with 10-20 people tops.
Side tangent... even if you don't employ a private eye/private detective, you could ask your local VW dealer to tell you how many of those exact cars had been sold in the area and there's an outside (admittedly remote) that a salesman might recognize the guy.
Other notes:
-this guy is probably a triathlete. He knew Sarah. Maybe not personally but he'd seen her and her bike in person before as you can see this was very targeted. It wasn't a rando and this guy certainly isn't a "pro" at stealing bikes from the backs of people's cars. The way he stood in the middle of the street and looked around... if people were around he'd draw a lot of attention to himself.
I would canvas local tri and bike clubs. This can be done pretty easily via social media. See if anyone recognizes him or his car. -Notice how the guy went right for the button that auto-closes the trunk. On the right side. It's not on the right side of every vehicle (it's on the left on my Volvo and I think on the left of Mercedes) and... heck... the vast majority of vehicles on the road don't have that feature. He pressed that button instinctively so he's familiar with newer Audis. Possibly a service tech or a salesman.
-the guy left his fingerprints