He hasn't disappeared. He works. He does stuff. He's credited by name in manpages you probably haven't read.
Ha, I should hope so - software should be self-documenting 
But that aside, I was referring to:
I spent 30 minutes on the phone international until I could get someone to bridge me into local directory assistance for the last area code of his I knew
That makes it sound like you at least can't get hold of Not-Darlene {Surname} over the phone.
I'm sure you'll get in touch and maybe he'll pop back in here to give some more details. I wouldn't fault him for not doing so, though.. it's not like there have been particularly serious offers
