|
|
| |
| |
Criminal Records - Most Wanted |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Profile |
|
| |
Name: Ran Mesika
|
|
| |
Race: White, Other |
|
| |
Age at Disappearance: 22 |
|
| |
Age Now: 28 |
|
| |
Height: 6'0'' |
|
| |
Weight: 170 lbs. |
|
| |
Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Black |
|
| |
Eyes (Color and Correction): Brown |
|
| |
Other Physical Characteristics: Thin build |
|
| |
Wanted for :
Missing |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Location(s) |
|
| |
Last Seen : Lake Charles , LA
In the early morning hours of May 2, 2003, security cameras, at a Walmart off Highway 171 in Lake Charles, Lousiana, captured images of Ran Mesika with Jonathan Vernier inside the store. |
|
| |
Possible Location : Unkown |
|
| |
Last Known : Unkown |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Traits |
|
| |
Served three years in the Israeli army |
|
| |
Was traveling across the country selling body piercing jewelry |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Case Story |
|
| |
A Father's Desperate Search |
|
| |
In May 2003, just outside Tel Aviv, Israel, Shimon Mesika was trying to get in touch with his son, Ran. Ran had been taking a road trip across America in a van he bought, but he hadn't called home in days. Shimon was worried. He and Ran were very close, and Ran hadn't returned any of his messages.
Then, Shimon figured out a way to track Ran down. Shimon had given Ran a credit card, and if he knew where Ran had last used the card, he'd at least know where Ran was. So, Shimon called the credit card company. But what they told him came as a surprise.
The credit card company traced Ran's account and discovered that $600 had been withdrawn from the account, every day, for six days all over the southeast. The account was closed; it was over its credit limit. Shimon knew there were two possibilities: either Ran had been running up huge bills without telling him, or worse, someone else was using Ran's card. There was only one way to find out.
Shimon unblocked the account and waited. While Shimon waited to see if the card would be used again, he got in touch with a friend of Ran's who lived in the U.S. Gilad Ehrlich lived in San Diego, and had helped Ran get his van to start his cross country trip.
Gilad told Shimon some very disturbing news. According to Gilad,when he last spoke with Ran, Ran told him that he picked up a hitchhiker. Cops know that Ran and the hitchhiker headed from Texas, east to Louisiana because a surveillance camera caught the both of them at a Wal-Mart in Lake Charles, Louisiana on May 2, 2003. Police believe after the two men left the Wal-Mart, Ran told the hitchhiker that his ride had come to an end. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Credit Card Leads To Florida |
|
| |
The actions Shimon had already taken were about to pay off. On May 7, 2003, Ran's credit card was used again: not by Ran, but by the hitchhiker. When the FBI shared this information with Shimon, the determined father headed for Miami.
Shimon arrived in Florida, and he didn't come alone. He brought with him a group of Ran's friends, all of them Israeli soldiers. As Shimon headed towards Miami, he checked in with the credit card company. They informed him that his son's card had just been used in Key West. That night, Shimon and his friends canvassed Key West.
Locals told Shimon that he should look at Leo's Campground, off Coral Avenue. Shimon then went to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, and when they went to the campground, they found Ran's van. Sheriff's deputies staked out the van and called in the FBI. Then, to their surprise, a woman got out of the van. Within minutes, the woman, who police say had spent the night with the hitchhiker, was filling in the FBI.
According to the woman, the man she knew was named "Trouble," but she told officials that she had no idea how to get in touch with him. During their interview, officials found a cell phone in the woman's purse that had a number for "Trouble" programmed in it. Police instructed her to make a lunch date with "Trouble," so she could say goodbye. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
"Trouble" In Paradise |
|
| |
FBI officials and the mysterious woman staked out the restaurant where she was supposed to meet "Trouble." At 1 o'clock, he showed up. FBI officials were on their toes when the supposed "Trouble" started walking towards them. As he passed by the agents, they grabbed each of his arms. But, the agents had underestimated their target. He threw his arms up, freed himself and started running. The chase was on.
After a dramatic bike and foot chase, the FBI caught a break: another biker t-boned "Trouble" sending both of them to the ground. Police officers quickly piled on "Trouble" and arrested him. Authorities would soon find out that "Trouble's" real name was Jonathan Vernier, and that he was a violent ex-con who had actually just escaped from a Colorado prison when Ran picked him up.
Authorities say Ran never dropped Vernier off after they were seen together on the surveillance video at the Lake Charles Wal-Mart. Vernier killed Ran with a tire iron, and then stole his van and credit card. Ran's blood was found all over the inside of the van, however, his body was missing.
Vernier was convicted in Florida of federal theft charges.
Case Moves to Louisiana
Vernier was later charged in Louisiana for carjacking resulting in death. Shimon spent the next several years searching all over western Louisaina for his son's body. He made 18 trips back and forth between Isreal and the United States. He vowed that he would never give up searching for his son, and vowed to give Ran a proper burial in Isreal.
In April 2008, Vernier finally went to trial for Ran's murder. Shimon was in the courtroom when the jury convicted Vernier for his son's death. But getting justice for his son wasn't the only thing on Shimon's mind: he wanted to find his son. After the trial, Shimon arranged a private jailhouse meeting with Vernier, and he convinced the killer to tell the FBI where he buried his son. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|