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SALT LAKE CITY — A combination of old- fashion pavement pounding and media attention has helped to locate a homeless man who unknowingly inherited a significant sum of money.
David Lundberg, a private investigator and founder of UtahDetective.com, was retained by the family of Max Melitzer after the wanderer inherited a chunk of change that could give him safe haven for the rest of his life.
Melitzer's family lost contact with him in September of 2010 and had to hire the services of an investigator to track him down after he came into his inheritance.
Melitizer has been on the streets for years, floating between Salt Lake City and Ogden and becoming somewhat of a fixture among social service providers such as the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake City.
It was there that Lundberg talked with the mission's house manager, Don Hill, and the quest to locate Melitzer took a turn for the positive.
Hill said Melitzer frequently stays at the mission when he is not venturing north to Ogden.
Based on a tip from a KSL listener, Lundberg said Saturday he found Melitzer at Salt Lake's Pioneer Park, where the homeless was pushing a large grocery cart stuffed with his personal belongings.
Lundberg got on the phone, called Melitzer's relatives in New York and handed the phone to the man.
"I think he was happy to be finally able to connect with his family in New York."
Lundberg said the man has had a rough stretch of bad luck recently.
"He was beat up. His money was taken. His watch was taken. He's been in kind of a surly element the last couple of years."
Lundberg found Melitzer a safe place to stay until his family arrives mid-week from New York.
"I want to make sure we get him back to New York, hopefully with his family. Get him in a situation where he has a decent place to live, food, pay his medical costs. He can get on with his life and enjoy himself for a change."
Friday's Story:
What if you were living on the streets -- homeless, staying in a different place every night -- and you didn't know that somebody was looking for you with money that could change your life?
It's a real-life story playing out on the streets of Salt Lake City and Ogden.
Max Melitzer has been homeless for years. The last time his family made contact with him was in September of 2010. Now, they've hired a New York law firm, which in turn has contracted a Utah private investigator to find him.
"He has some money coming to him, and doesn't even know it," said David Lundberg, private investigator and founder of UtahDetective.com.
How much money? Neither Lundberg nor the lawyers are disclosing. It's significant enough, though, that they're laying down real money to track Melitzer down.
"He'd have money where he could take care of himself or hire someone to take care of him," Lundberg said.
He also disclosed that Melitzer has some "emotional issues," which may be why it's been so hard to pin him down.
Lundberg said there had been a letter correspondence with family last year -- but when family members gave Melitzer a number, he never called it.
"The family just wants to make sure he's set up and he's taken care of," Lundberg said.
Melitzer's family wishes to remain private, and lawyers are deferring questions to Lundberg.
For Lundberg's part, Friday was the most productive day to date. In over two months of looking, he'd had few leads.
If you've seen Max Melitzer, contact David Lundberg at UtahDetective.com or at 866-363-2422
When a KSL news crew followed him to the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake near 400 South and 400 West, his luck started to change.
Don Hill -- the house manager at the mission -- told Lundberg he saw Melitzer two days ago in that very area. It was the last known time Melitzer had been spotted anywhere.
Hill says he's known Melitzer for four years and confirmed he stayed at places like the Rescue Mission of Salt lake.
Melitzer does rove over the course of weeks between Salt Lake City and Ogden, Hill said.
"During the summer, I'd imagine, once in a while he'll stay out nights -- outside," Hill said. "He's always talking about staying at Ogden."
KSL learned later Friday of another sighting in Ogden more than a week ago. On June 8, an officer with the Ogden Police Crime Reduction Unit found Melitzer sleeping in a car in a salvage yard at J & J Auto Body on Wall Avenue.
Melitzer has done a stint in jail. Weber County Sheriff's Capt. Klint Anderson confirmed Melitzer was booked in October and released from the Weber County Jail. It was over a $1,000 warrant for failing to appear in Salt Lake City on a jaywalking charge.
Anybody who has seen Melitzer is asked to contact Lundberg at UtahDetective.com or at 866-363-2422. Lundberg said police may also be contacted.
Story written by Andrew Adams with contributions from Amy Joi O'Donoghue
