February 2, 1999: Hide Your Assets, Detective Work - Ed Pankau

Art Bell is joined by private investigator Ed Pankau, author of the forthcoming book "Hide Your Assets and Disappear," who draws on decades of experience tracking fugitives to explain how someone could vanish and start over. Pankau, ranked among the nation's top ten private investigators, reveals that only about one in four or five people who attempt to disappear actually succeed long-term.

The conversation covers practical realities of modern surveillance, from credit bureau tracking to airline records and electronic communications monitoring. Pankau explains that countries like Belize and Honduras welcome Americans with modest savings, offering citizenship and passports for deposits as low as fifty thousand dollars. He notes that retirees living on Social Security can stretch their income significantly in such locations, enjoying a better quality of life at half the cost.

Art and Pankau discuss the fine line between privacy and criminality, the role of technology in modern investigation, and how the Unabomber evaded capture for years by living completely off the grid. Pankau emphasizes the cardinal rule of disappearing: three can keep a secret if two of them are dead, meaning anyone who brings others along dramatically increases their chances of being found.