Find Eric and Rebekah

I don't know what to say. Something's wrong, and we're not getting the truth from the FBI.

Davis and I are ending this blog, and starting a new site instead:

Find Eric and Rebekah

Surveillance Photos

Okay, big news.

These surveillance photos were released by the bank on the corner of Main Street and First South, in Salt Lake City. (Oddly enough, that was the bank that Eric once robbed, but that's probably coincidence...)

The first photo (below) shows two people facing each other. The one on the right could very possibly be Eric. He was meeting with the State Department earlier in the day, and then on his way to Rebekah's concert -- it would make sense that he'd be wearing a suit, and that looks like a suit he owns.


The second photo shows Eric in almost the same position, although the other person is gone. There's a shadow on the sidewalk that could be either the other person walking away, or a third unknown person. (The shadow isn't there in any of the other photos, so it must be a person.)


The third photo shows a third person, wearing a suit. I would assume that he's FBI?


The fourth shows Eric and the FBI guy (possibly, of course) running east. In this shot we can see the FBI guy is wearing a trenchcoat, and since it's the 23rd of June and 90 degrees outside, it makes more sense that he's FBI.


UPDATE: The FBI has just seized the photos and are asking the media not to publish them. Too bad they're all across the internet by now.

It doesn't add up

It's been a strange weekend.

As Baxter posted, I went to Rebekah's concert on Friday. Everything appeared to be normal, and at 7:30pm the lights went down. We waited for several minutes and then there was an announcement that the program had been changed: Rebekah would not be playing, and the orchestra would be playing something else instead. (I don't remember what the replacement was -- something else by Saint-Saens, I think.)

I left the theater to find out what was happening, and counted no less than fifteen law enforcement officers in the lobby. Special Agent Harrop (the agent assigned specifically to Eric) was there, and I tried to talk to him, but was shooed away. I talked to a few police officers, but they all told the same story: Rebekah was gone, and they didn't know where she was -- but there was no reason to think that anything bad had happened. (How they came to that conclusion, considering they didn't know anything, I'll never know.)

After fifteen minutes, I was finally able to talk to Agent Harrop. He asked me a thousand questions: Did I go to Salt Lake with Rebekah and Eric? Had I talked to them that day at all? Had they mentioned anything about going somewhere? I wasn't able to get a word in, and he didn't answer any questions.

Now here's the weird thing. As you may have seen in the news already (it's been all over every major network since this morning), the FBI released a statement that Eric and Rebekah are now in the Witness Protection Program.

It raises a few questions:

If the FBI had taken him into custody, wouldn't Agent Harrop had known that?

Wouldn't there have had to be some kind of incident to force their hand?

What about Rebekah's mother and sister? They are involved in the trial, too. What about Baxter and I? We testify in both Isabella and Arbogast's trials.

Something happened, I think, and the FBI isn't telling us.

Concerning...

So this is weird.

Rebekah had a concert today, like Eric talked about on Wednesday. It was in Salt Lake at Abravanel Hall, and Rebekah was really excited about it.

Eric was planning to hang out with her in Salt Lake and then attend the concert, but that was shot out of the water when he found out he had to meet with the State Department for yet another interview. Still, he was supposed to be done in time for the concert.

Well, Davis has tickets to the concert, and he just called me. Apparently, the schedule changed. I don't know why yet, but Rebekah was taken off the program -- but nothing was put in her place. And he said there were several police officers in the lobby at intermission.

I can't get either Eric or Rebekah on their cell phones...

I'll keep you updated.

Upcoming Events

It all starts next week. We've been waiting for this trial for six months, and it's finally here. Well, almost here... The waiting is the worst part.

Arbogast's trial will be easier, I think. With Isabella, I just don't know who she is. Arbogast is a criminal and a fraud and a terrorist. Isabella is an enigma.

We're filling time as best we can. Only Rebekah signed up for any classes this summer. Davis is working. Baxter's got a short internship. I'm just trying to get through this stupid trial -- I have no idea how Rebekah is going to stay on top of her classwork.

Speaking of which, this Friday she's going to be playing Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall. You should all buy tickets and come see her.

Her performance is going to be great -- I know it because I saw her perform the same piece last night at the HFAC. It was tremendous.

The BYU Music Department has learned that Rebekah's accidental celebrity status will always draw crowds to concerts, and has been booking recitals quite a bit in the last few months. Half the audience is media, I think, but no one minds as long as they buy a ticket!)

My Father

by Rebekah Hughes

I'm finally back. It's been a hectic couple of weeks, with the performances back east and the interview schedule. I try myself to be patient with the media. After all, it was the power of the media that really saved Eric and I from Arbogast and, ultimately, Felix and his NOS goons. Still, the schedule is rough and they ask questions that I don't want to answer.

Well, I've decided to finally answer the big one: What is the story with my father?

Answer: I don't know, really. Here's what I know for sure:

Back in December, I was planning on visiting my father in England for Christmas. As everyone knows, I got kidnapped by the NOS, and never made my flight. Eric, while trying to help me, talked to my father on the phone, and told him I was in trouble.

A short time later, Isabella Hakopian showed up. She eventually told us that she was my father's personal assistant, and that she had been sent to help us, on his request.

Later, at the airport, my father saved my life, as well as Eric's. He and Felix talked, and while I don't understand much of what was said, it was evident that they knew each other. How and in what capacity, I don't know.

And that's it. That's all there is to the story. I don't know why he is in hiding right now, and I don't know why Isabella won't talk to the police.

Here's what I do know: there is no evidence, in my mind, that my father is a terrorist. There is absolutely no evidence that he is working with Felix. They hate each other; that much was certain.

And I know this: he's my father, and I'm not going to hang him out to dry based on hearsay and speculation. I never knew him much growing up, because he was always away on business, but that doesn't mean I didn't--don't--love him.

Halls of Justice

You'll have to pardon our absence. The pre-trial meetings have stepped up, and even Davis and I have had to go to court once or twice.

Isabella Hakopian's trial will be first, and it starts in just a couple of weeks. As our incredibly astute, anonymous commenter pointed out last Friday, Isabella claimed to be personal assistant of Edward Hughes, Rebekah's dad. (The FBI asks that I use conditional language like "claimed to be" when I talk about this stuff. What actually happened was that she told Eric and Rebekah that she was his personal assistant, and they have no reason to doubt her.)

Her trial is scheduled to get underway on the 28th of June. The weird thing about Isabella is this: despite only trying to help Eric and Rebekah, she hasn't said a single word in the six months she's been in jail. The news reports she won't even talk to her defense lawyer. Weird.

The other big trial coming up is Paul Arbogast, a former FBI agent who was working for the Novus Ordo Seclorum (allegedly). On more than one occasion, he tried to get Eric to turn himself over into Arbogast's custody. And when they finally were in his custody, he tried to deliver them to Felix Hazard. (Again, allegedly.) (But it's true.)

His trial will start sometime this fall. They're still working on his case, because they're trying to figure out how far back his corruption goes, and if anyone else in the FBI was involved. So far, he hasn't named any names, but I think he will before the end.

Arbogast is the only NOS member who has been captured alive, and they're going to make an example of him, I think.

Hughes: "I don't know the truth"

In light of the recent raid on an NOS warehouse, Eric and Rebekah are back in the spotlight. Last night they were interviewed via satellite on Larry King Live, and for the first time Rebekah talked about her father. (It wasn’t much, but it was more than she usually says – and she gets asked all the time.)

Here’s an excerpt from the show. (Forgive any errors – I copied it down as quickly as I could…)

Larry King: So Miss Hughes, you had been trapped in a warehouse similar to this one?

Rebekah Hughes: Well, similar in that it was a warehouse. I haven’t seen a lot of pictures of this one.

LK: This was shortly before the incident at the airport?

RH: Yes.

Eric Hopkins: That was earlier in the evening, yeah.

LK: Now, Miss Hughes, can I ask you a question? There has been a lot of speculation about your father, Edward Hughes, and his participation in these events. We know – well, I mean, we think we know – that Isabella Hakopian was Edward Hughes’ personal assistant.

RH: Yes.

LK: And in interviews, you’ve been very reluctant to speak of this. Presumably more on the subject will come out in the trial. What’s the reason for your silence?

RH: Yes… Well, the thing is, he’s my father. It’s different when I talk about Felix or Isabella. My father’s my father.

LK: But you put him in the same category with Felix Hazard?

RH: I don’t put any of them in the same category. I don’t put them in categories at all. There’s just the truth, and it can’t be cut up into little pieces that can be categorized. And that’s the main reason why I’ve stayed silent about my father. I don’t know the truth about him, and I’m not going to jump to any conclusions. He’s my father.

Finally...

Big news today. The Secret Service finally made the first big bust in the Novus Ordo Seclorum counterfeiting ring.

Philadelphia, PA (AP) - Following a tip from a nearby business owner, police raided a warehouse in western Philadelphia late Monday night. Although no NOS members were captured during the raid, police found printing equipment and over $1.4 million in counterfeit bills. This is the first major raid since the NOS surfaced in December.

“We saw them coming and going at all hours of the night,” said Ian Roshek, night manager of a restaurant across the street from the warehouse. “They’d come in at three or four in the morning with a couple of pickup trucks and load up. Honestly, I thought they were drug dealers. I had no idea.”

When it became evident what police had found, they contacted the FBI, who notified the Secret Service. Despite the scale of the find, many say it will do little to sway critics of law enforcement’s handing of the counterfeiting.

“You have to put it in perspective,” said Congresswoman Alisa Kent (R-Pennsylvania). “1.4 million is a lot of money, but when you realize that there has already been 350 million dollars—fake dollars—spread into the economy since December, 1.4 doesn’t seem like that much.”

Some experts put the amount much higher. $356 million is the official figure released in a report from the Treasury Department last week, but estimates from the Tremont Institute, a New York-based think tank, put the numbers closer to $500 million.

Lapidary Grandeur

I got an email from Eric today. It seems that, while Rebekah was in the performance of a lifetime at the Kennedy Center, Eric got held up in a late meeting at the State Department. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy.



In other news, by all accounts Rebekah's performance went very well. She played part of Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1. I know next to nothing about music, so you'll have to excuse my literacy on the subject, but here's what I've gleaned from Wikipedia:

Some guy named Oistrakh referred to the violin part as a "pithy Shakespearian role'. I don't know if that's good or bad.

The first movement is characterized as "a suppresion of feelings". The second is "demoniac". (Go Rebekah!)

A guy named Boris Schwarz commented "on the passacaglia's lapidary grandeur, and the burlesque's devil-may-care abandonment." I would have to totally agree.

On a note of annoyance: some nutcase talk-radio host is complaining about the choice of music. Shostakovich was apparently tied closely to the Soviet government, and says that having Rebekah play this particular piece at the Kennedy Center is a slap in the face (since Felix is a communist and previously worked for the KGB).

What a bunch of baloney. It's just a song.