A few weeks ago, the local police department started getting complaints regarding identity fraud from stolen credit card numbers. It turned out that this local motel, which went belly up at the beginning of the year, left behind years of financial documents including credit card receipts, employee social security numbers, and everything else that a business would keep filed in the manager's office.
The owners just walked away, leaving everything behind.
A new group took control of the building until it was to be demolished. The person pictured here is Jack, a homeless guy who was the unofficial caretaker of the place in the meantime. Jack was basically allowed to live in one of the abandoned rooms with his girlfriend in exchange for keeping the lot in good order and chasing away "tweakers" whom would come at night to tear copper out from the structure to sell for scrap. The room pictured was the old banquet room, with a huge hole ripped out of the roof. Jack speculated that it was made by one specific guy who would regularly return to the motel for scrap at night.
Two days after I took this, Jack was arrested for trespassing and taking scrap out of the abandoned motel after, supposedly, the contractor told them to stop.
