Don Dietz
Don Dietz, a 66-year-old man who lived near the Ionia State Game Area in Saranac, was last seen on September 8, 2007, after leaving a Meijer’s in Ionia. He was known as the “Bicycle Man†around town because he rode his bike everywhere. Gene Dietz, Don’s brother, reported he received a phone call from the Lake Michigan Credit Union on September 20, 2007, nearly two weeks after Don went missing. The credit union reported someone trying to withdraw a large amount of money from Don’s account. Don’s brothers have reported other suspicious behavior, including an unidentified woman in a vehicle with a stolen or improperly registered license plate staking out his former residence. In addition, a woman who cut Don’s hair the week before he went missing claims Don was very upset about an encounter with someone who wanted him to invest his money.
On December 13, 2007, Rami Idbal Saba from Lowell, MI, was taken into federal custody on charges of mail fraud, bank fraud, and identity theft. He is accused of using Dietz’s personal information to try and access his account in September 2007 at the Lake Michigan Credit Union. He is not charged in the disappearance of Don Dietz. A trial date was set for September, 2008 in U.S. District Court.
There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to Dietz’s finding.
UPDATE: January 30, 2009
Prosecutors in Philadelphia, PA, indicted Raogo Ouedraogo, alleging he assisted Rami Saba in a plan to “kidnap and incapacitate their victim, Donald L. Dietz, assume his identity and to illegally obtain money.”
MJVH
- Prosecutors: Missing man, Donald Dietz, was target of a kidnapping, theft plot Â
- Federal court records show men from Lowell, Philadelphia are targets in Donald Dietz murder investigation
- Police dig up Rami Saba's porch in Lowell; fail to find body of missing man, Donald Dietz
- Jury finds Ouedraogo guilty on three counts