The New Yorker notes that two residents of a New York loft disappeared mysteriously in November. Michael Sullivan had lived in the apartment for twenty years; his girlfriend, Camden Sylvia, moved in with him about five years ago. They had been paying $300 a month for a 1400-square-foot rent-controlled apartment on Pearl Street, on Manhattan's southern tip, adjacent to the East River. Reporters were quick to point out that the apartment was worth "possibly ten times as much."

The couple had a dispute over inadequate heat with their landlord, Robert Rodriguez, who himself disappeared nine days later. Press reports describe Rodriguez as a "nice guy" but also as "a man who was strapped with financial difficulties and sometimes quick to anger." His property in upstate New York has now been overrun by police dogs and helicopters, which turned up no clues. Rodriguez, who isn't officially suspected of involvement in the disappearance, later sent word to authorities that he was alive and well, though his whereabouts remain unknown.

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