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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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I'm disappointed. When this first hit I was actually reading jeffwise.net's version of where flight MH360 is and so when you posted these pics I thought for sure ST would go on a witch hunt so I set aside my whole weekend. Unfortunately everything's fizzled and we're just nitpicking each other's opinions about what kind of car it is or how he worked the lock instead of focusing on the guy himself.

I checked the Rector Audi website and there's a "staff" tab but no pics, just a place holder I think for each person's pic. Maybe somebody could go there on a recon.

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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [ericM40-44] [ In reply to ]
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ericM40-44 wrote:
I'm disappointed. When this first hit I was actually reading jeffwise.net's version of where flight MH360 is and so when you posted these pics I thought for sure ST would go on a witch hunt so I set aside my whole weekend. Unfortunately everything's fizzled and we're just nitpicking each other's opinions about what kind of car it is or how he worked the lock instead of focusing on the guy himself.

I checked the Rector Audi website and there's a "staff" tab but no pics, just a place holder I think for each person's pic. Maybe somebody could go there on a recon.

Agreed. It would be nice to know if Sarah took a trip down to Rector Audi. I looked through her Strava followers to try and cross-reference but didn't find anything or anyone unusual. I guess there isn't enough of scandal to get the true ST Slueths out on their top game. I can tell you this, if my bike was stolen and I had this kind of evidence I would be a lot more vocal about it.


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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [ericM40-44] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [refthimos] [ In reply to ]
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refthimos wrote:
It could be helpful to know the context for why her $10K P5 was in the back of her car in the afternoon. I am sure she doesn't leave it in there overnight - was she coming back from a race or a training ride? Living in a house, both my cars and bikes go in my garage, so I don't really have the issue with leaving my bike in my car on the street, but when I lived in a condo, the bike never stayed in the car on the street any longer than it had to. Was the bike there for a long time for some reason? Or was she inside about about to go get it? If the latter, did the thief know this and know he had limited time? I know I am not offering up much help here, but when I think of someone getting their bike stolen from inside their car, I would expect that person to be on the road or not in front of their own home, since I don't think most people leave their bike unattended in the back of their car while parked right in front of their condo.
I don't think it really matters why her bike was in her car. She didn't do anything wrong, the thief did.

This is getting good. I can't wait until he is caught.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Ty] [ In reply to ]
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Hi All!

First and foremost I need to that you ALL for all you have done in terms of thinking through and trying to come up with ideas as to who/what/where. This forum as been HUGE and we have forwarded it to both the police department and to a private investigator I hired to help look into the case. I wanted to give you an update on where things are at and some specifics

1st - Prior to this happening I had been away travelling for almost a month. I left for South Africa for a race on January 18th, and from there went to a training camp, returning to my house on February 10th. I then let again on February 14th for some sponsor obligations, returning on the 19th. Many people have suggested that perhaps he was following me or watching me. I suppose this COULD be true, though, having been gone for such an extended period of time, I feel as though it is unlikely. I don't believe I was targeted (I could be wrong) and think it was a random event. From what we can tell, it seems he was going from car to car trying to open other vehicles, and since mine was parked in front of my house, it opened.

2nd - someone asked if I left my bike in my car frequently and the answer is no. However - I will qualify that and say that I have always felt Sausalito is a really safe neighborhood and if anyone knows the area, the streets around where I live are steep, windy and difficult to navigate. I have definitely left my bike in my car before, and at times I have even loaded it in my car and left it overnight as I prepared to leave early the next morning for training. This wasn't a common practice, but I have done it. In this case, I had arrived home at 2:30 PM from my trip, I had unloaded a few bags, but was so tired, I decided to lay down for a nap before unloading the rest of my car. I think the concept of someone potentially tracking me on Strava or Instagram is definitely reasonable, I also feel like, given I was gone for 1 month and happened to return THAT day, not having posted anything about my return to SF....it just seems unlikely to me for this to be the case...but again...DEF could be wrong

3rd - When I last spoke with the police detective (on Friday) he had followed up with the Rector Audi lead, but hadn't gotten far. He called and spoke with the manager who claimed that no VWs have been sold from the dealership recently. He also said, without supeona or warrant he was unwilling to provide any customer information. The detective felt that this was a dead end. He saw the letter that John received back and he felt that although the dealership was playing coy and being vague, that actually they knew nothing.

My plan is to actually go to the dealership on Monday with a picture of the man, the car and a description of what we believe the car is (that you gentlemen for knowing so much about cars...that is awesome) and asking if they could provide me with any information. Am hoping some charm might get me somewhere. I also thought I could then scout out the lot and see if the car was there (if, in fact, it is owned by an employee).

One question I have....if you look at the video, the rack (to me) seems to be positioned at the FRONT of the vehicle, whereas in the photo at the dealership, the rack seems positioned further back. Any thoughts there? Does that change anyone's opinion that perhaps this is the same vehicle?

4th - Sausalito is the first town north of the Golden Gate Bridge, so if the guy lived in the city or south of the city, he would have to have gone back across the bridge, where there are tons of surveillance cameras at the toll booth. My apartment is approximately 7-15 minutes from the toll booth depending on traffic, so I have asked the detective to get the surveillance footage from 4:40-4:50 PM on that day of all cars heading south bound. I haven't heard back from him on this yet, but if he went across that bridge, that would be a sure way to catch him.

I also asked the detective if we could run the vehicle registration search, which to me sounded like a genius idea....i mean really good. He said "do you know how many VW golfs are registered out there?"....he seemed to think that it wouldn't work, but I am going to push him on this again. Because you guys have seemed to narrow down the make, model and year (within a range) I feel like it is a worthwhile task....so I will keep you posted there!

I've also signed up for alerts on Craigslist and ebay. Every Cervelo bike or frame, every Shimano Dura Ace component, and ever PowerTap wheel set that gets listed, I am getting an alter on. I had a 55/42t front chain ring on that bike and ride 165mm cranks, which is VERY Specific and I think not very common. My feeling is even if the bike gets disassembled, and someone tries to sell the front chain ring and cranks, there would be a pretty good likelihood that that is my guy!

The last thing I have done/am doing is trying to walk through the neighborhood streets in any conceivable way he may have gotten back to the main road (or hen he drove around to get back to the car) to see if there are other houses with security cameras that may have captured his rear plate. Right now, I haven't come up with anything as yet, but still working on this.

So....that is it from my end. I know this is a LOT of information, but any other thoughts or ideas you have would be SO appreciated. Thank you SO much again for all of the help, insight and support. Truly....you guys are bringing so much to the table. If this guy gets caught, a big part of that will be because of you.

Thank you and now that i am on Slowtwitch I will continue to update you as I hear anything!

Sarah-
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Spiampiano] [ In reply to ]
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Oh! And again - I cannot say Thank you enough. I really apologize for not getting on here sooner, but I have ready every thread and considered everything you have suggested. Please keep the ideas coming and I definitely plan to be more active/involved in this thread...
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Spiampiano] [ In reply to ]
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I think your idea about crossing the golden gate bridge is a very good one. Also checking with any other neighbors regarding additional cameras is another idea. Lastly, and maybe I missed it, but are you sure he didn't drive into your street in such a way that his license plate was caught by your neighbor's camera?


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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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Hey Thomas - thanks...And yeh - My specific street is a one way, so there is no possibility he went the other direction. And with the placement of the camera, there isn't really a way to capture the rear plate. That is why I'm trying to find other cameras that may have been positioned differently. Thank you again!
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Spiampiano] [ In reply to ]
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Spiampiano wrote:
Hey Thomas - thanks...And yeh - My specific street is a one way, so there is no possibility he went the other direction. And with the placement of the camera, there isn't really a way to capture the rear plate. That is why I'm trying to find other cameras that may have been positioned differently. Thank you again!

Wait a second, if it is one way street sure the camera can't catch the plate coming out, but it should have been able to catch it going in. That is of course unless he backed his car into your street.


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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Spiampiano] [ In reply to ]
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I wonder if uploading the video to Reddit or something like that might get enough eyes on it so that someone would recognize him. The video is not bad, and while they might not be able to make a positive ID just off facial features, there is plenty more to go on. Hair color/style, clothing, and the way he moves is very distinctive along with his mannerisms.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Spiampiano] [ In reply to ]
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It did look like the thief has a FasTrak, but they could have headed back through to the east bay, as there is no toll in that direction.

If the Golden Gate doesn't show the car, you may want to also check the Bay Bridge and the San Mateo within an hour or so of the theft. They'd have to go through the tolls there to get back onto the peninsula.

I shared you story with my cycling club. I hope you find this guy and get your bike back!
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [katcycles] [ In reply to ]
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I've ID'd about half the staff at Rector Audi, and they look like real honest hardworking people.

However, there is a person of interest, and I am having a hard time getting enough information and photos to rule out 100%.

There may also be roof racks on black in the parking lot of Rector Audi. Do staff park on the roof top of the building?

I'd try to talk with the owner of the dealership, frame it as a personal issue.

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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Ty] [ In reply to ]
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I wasn't suggesting that she did anything wrong in leaving her bike in the back of the car. Just that if this were her common practice, the thief might more likely be a neighbor or someone who would see this pattern and know that there would be a bike in the car. But since we now know that this was uncommon or at least not part of a pattern, it seems more likely this guy was checking out cars on her street and got lucky to find a P5 inside one of them.

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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [refthimos] [ In reply to ]
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I left my bike overnight, downtown Vancouver a lot, in the past couple of years. I chucked a blanket over it, and have tint.... anyway back to sleuthing.:

Possible plate/paperwork explanation.
The "dealer plate" in CA is just free advertising for the dealership..i took mine off at the dealer before i left the lot. The dealer places the temp paperwork on the lower right windshield and the dmv sends your reg & plates 6-8 wks later.
As being there is no way for the cop to know how long you have been driving without a plate, could have been the reason he pulled you over. As long as you have that temp paperwork on the windshield your legal.

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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]
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I've ID'd about half the staff at Rector Audi, and they look like real honest hardworking people.


Your comment made me laugh, not to be a dick, but what do one of those look like?




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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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Thomas Gerlach wrote:
SharkFM wrote:
However, there is a person of interest, and I am having a hard time getting enough information and photos to rule out 100%.


Care to post a picture or link of this POI.

I understand the zeal to catch the thief, but it's a really, really bad idea to post pictures or give identifying info of people who "sort of look like the guy" in the video.

This is how lynch mobs form, how reputations are wrongly ruined, and worse.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [AlwaysCurious] [ In reply to ]
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Yes exactly, thanks for adding that comment.

I think in this type of thing, you work to eliminate possibilities, with the idea it may open up new ones. We have a good profile and through behavioral "patterns" predict movement, locations etc.

Age - mid-late forties?
Receding hair line
Jaw/teeth may not be correct (ie bite/twitch)
Distinctive lower leg/walking & shoes
Fitness/sports
Might have cycling connection
100% at home with Audi/VW
Roof racks
Possible dealer, repair plate/new purchase/car in limbo/transfer
4 door may have family, if car is owned
Lives in area
Is available/off work at 4:30 (who has time for that ?)
Takes risks -- this is broad daylight*
May have been covering a name or logo on breast of shirt
Comfortable with key fob transmitter amplification usage

A guess he has a mild disorder of some type (ie learning, ADD etc.)

Anything else to add?

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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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Thomas Gerlach wrote:
SharkFM wrote:
However, there is a person of interest, and I am having a hard time getting enough information and photos to rule out 100%.


Care to post a picture or link of this POI.

I am as shocked at you are that the twitch hunt has not caught the thief yet... but I don't want some poor sap who bust his ass 10 hours a day in a garage to be destroyed by the vigilantes on ST if we arent sure it is him.

When we do catch this guy, and it will happen, he'll get what he deserves. Humiliation and jail time.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [AlwaysCurious] [ In reply to ]
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AlwaysCurious wrote:
Thomas Gerlach wrote:
SharkFM wrote:
However, there is a person of interest, and I am having a hard time getting enough information and photos to rule out 100%.


Care to post a picture or link of this POI.

I understand the zeal to catch the thief, but it's a really, really bad idea to post pictures or give identifying info of people who "sort of look like the guy" in the video.

This is how lynch mobs form, how reputations are wrongly ruined, and worse.

Thank you....finally some sanity.

So someone has nothing better to do than look at Google Earth images and finds another black car with silver roof rack bars....from there, people are looking at images of employees who work at that dealership, and based on looks alone, we have a "person of interest."

Holy hell....it is bad enough that the reputation of a business is potentially being besmirched, but now we are singling out individuals based on how they "look"?

Damn the ramifications.....grab your pitchforks and torches!!

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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Spiampiano] [ In reply to ]
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Spiampiano wrote:
1st - Prior to this happening I had been away travelling for almost a month. I left for South Africa for a race on January 18th, and from there went to a training camp, returning to my house on February 10th. I then let again on February 14th for some sponsor obligations, returning on the 19th. Many people have suggested that perhaps he was following me or watching me. I suppose this COULD be true, though, having been gone for such an extended period of time, I feel as though it is unlikely. I don't believe I was targeted (I could be wrong) and think it was a random event. From what we can tell, it seems he was going from car to car trying to open other vehicles, and since mine was parked in front of my house, it opened.

My plan is to actually go to the dealership on Monday with a picture of the man, the car and a description of what we believe the car is (that you gentlemen for knowing so much about cars...that is awesome) and asking if they could provide me with any information. Am hoping some charm might get me somewhere. I also thought I could then scout out the lot and see if the car was there (if, in fact, it is owned by an employee).

One question I have....if you look at the video, the rack (to me) seems to be positioned at the FRONT of the vehicle, whereas in the photo at the dealership, the rack seems positioned further back. Any thoughts there? Does that change anyone's opinion that perhaps this is the same vehicle?

I also asked the detective if we could run the vehicle registration search, which to me sounded like a genius idea....i mean really good. He said "do you know how many VW golfs are registered out there?"....he seemed to think that it wouldn't work, but I am going to push him on this again. Because you guys have seemed to narrow down the make, model and year (within a range) I feel like it is a worthwhile task....so I will keep you posted there!

I've also signed up for alerts on Craigslist and ebay. Every Cervelo bike or frame, every Shimano Dura Ace component, and ever PowerTap wheel set that gets listed, I am getting an alter on. I had a 55/42t front chain ring on that bike and ride 165mm cranks, which is VERY Specific and I think not very common. My feeling is even if the bike gets disassembled, and someone tries to sell the front chain ring and cranks, there would be a pretty good likelihood that that is my guy!

That's interesting he was going car to car. How certain are you guys of that? That radically changes the profile of the criminal. If he was going car to car, chances are it was just random he stumbled on yours. From what I've read, criminals use a device that picks up the signal from your key fob (if you're close enough) and then amplifies it in such a way that the car believes your car is nearby.

If he wasn't going car to car, I'd say you were targeted not so much in that he knew you were a triathlete yada yada yada but rather perhaps this individual is a service tech and he just happened to pull your name, address, car, etc. from Audi's system and decided to go after that car (and perhaps others). I'll admit that this is a bit of a long shot.

Regarding the roof rack in the picture, if you look closely at the picture I posted you can tell that the roof rack is toward the front of the roof of that vehicle. It's close to the termination of the windshield. I'm pretty certain the vehicle I highlighted in the satellite photo is either a Golf or an A3.

Keep pushing on the vehicle registration search! The detective is right, there are a TON of VW Golfs registered in the area but considering you have a year range (which is fortuitously narrow!), color.... between those two stats alone I bet you come up with 300-500 vehicles which sounds like a lot but it's really not. If you can cross reference that with a simple license search for males in a certain height and age range 300-500 should become 20-30. Maybe 50.

On a side note, let me know if you stumble across any reasonably priced 29er powertap rears :p
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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People like you make me want to move to South America, change my name, get a job on a container ship, and shut down all online accounts of mine.

Really though, if that pans out, holy crap nice job.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [TriathlonKid] [ In reply to ]
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What makes you think you can hide from me in South America? muhahahaha :)
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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News report, nice production. Blow-ups of the dude reminds me of that vintage bigfoot clip.

<http://abc7news.com/...athletes-car/538237/

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Last edited by: SharkFM: Mar 1, 15 15:25
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]
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Well?? What's up? Surely it's Monday, there's gotta be some activity . . .was there a visit to the Audi place?

Waiting for an update. And hopefully an arrest and retrieval of Sarah's stuff!
Last edited by: Ty: Mar 2, 15 8:07
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