Much appreciated BCB - I suspect his account was hacked.

The confusing thing it - I got a tracking number and it was from the UK where he is based and he continued to communicate in a professional manner once I sent the funds to him. Clearly not in the ilk of the poor english, grab and run type scammer you never hear from again. He hasn't replied in two weeks though, and my package is now being returned to him due to the address being wrong. Unlikely to be coincidence, but it shut me up long enough waiting for the shipment - three weeks I have been tracking on usps.

23BTC  is enough for me to hire a PI and get the local police involved however.