That was before patches , load time is really good now <| sep |> YDAQ had a good answer for the how . Here ' s some clues to find 1 . Emails showing they were in contact with someone suspicious . Threatening messages , demands for money , etc . are obvious , but just knowing that she ' s talking to someone you ' ve never met could be a clue . 2 . Google Location records if the girl had a smartphone , and it ' s turned on , you can find out everywhere it ' s been . The kidnappers probably weren ' t dumb enough to take the phone straight to their hideout , but there should still be clues . At the very least , it should reveal where the kidnapping took place . 3 . Does she keep a budget on her laptop ? That could reveal she was getting money from the loan sharks , or perhaps paying for protection from the kidnappers . 4 . Don ' t forget the relatives . If she was kidnapped to get at someone else , then the someone else probably has more information than the girl does . 5 . Don ' t forget the old classic , the letter from a dead man . If the girl knew she was going to get taken , perhaps she wrote down some clues and hid them in her room somewhere ? A lot of this depends on why she was kidnapped . If she was just snatched out of the blue , she ' s not going to have a lot of information . But more likely , there was a reason she was targeted . What happened in the days before the kidnapping ? Who did she talk to ? Could she photograph or record anyone important ? If the answer is no , then can you revise your plot so that the answer is yes ? As for why Mr . Johnson is ignoring the loan sharks , maybe they ' re just not big enough to be on his radar ? Or maybe Johnson is busy with other problems and can ' t spare anyone to go around and break their legs ? Or maybe they ' re payingthreatening people to not tell Mr . Johnson ? The bankrolling thing is easier . Maybe the backer delivers the money by a deaddrop , or launders it through a front business , or sends it via Bitcoin . Maybe they only talk via encrypted email , or maybe the sharks just don ' t know the backer ' s real name . Depends how worried the backer is about Mr . Johnson finding out , and how much effort he ' s willing to put in to stay at arm ' s length .