in light of what happened over the weekend, (with all of the other drama) i would say calling him a thief at this point is not gonna help the situation...i dont know who blake is, never met him, but until someone finds out what happened i would say that give him the benefit of the doubt... you guys are gonna feel like shit if you found out he was in some accident and in the hospital or worse in the morgue. There are enough people vouching for him at this point, that i dont think he is a crook....yes i would be pissed off as well if i was out that kind of money, but i would like to think that i am reasonable enough to try and find out the whole story...Prof offered to have someone go and check on him, has anyone tried that avenue yet?
The only reason i am saying this is because my uncle had a band that played at the cabbage patch in samsula during bike week...his bass player didnt show up for 3 straight gigs and they had to use a replacement...he was pissed, cursing the gut, couldnt get an answer on the phone...finally they took the 1 hour trip to his house and found the guy dead sitting in his lazy boy...been dead for a couple of days...
Point is, lets try and find the whole story before we crucify him...
Possibly all of the members who know blake and are vouching for him, can raise the money to send back to haulinasp? If he is as good as you say, there should be no problem.