About a month ago I came across an advice thread (in IMHO I imagine) entitled ‘Should I contact her?’. It was written by a newbie Doper who had come across an ex-one-night-stand on Facebook who had a kid who could have been conceived at exactly the time when the OP and the woman got together. The thread developed over several pages of posts, with a rivetting (if somewhat questionable) story of the OP debating whether to contact the woman, then contacting her, and finally welcoming his long-lost son into his life.
The thread started somewhere in late 2013 (before Thanksgiving since I remember Thanksgiving playing a role in the story) and the last post I saw was in January. I had bookmarked page 5 of the thread,
Should I contact her? - Page 5 - Straight Dope Message Board
but now there seems to be no record of the thread. Even closed threads from banned posters are still accessible, right?, so I am curious what this means. A lot of people in the SICH thread were suspicious that the OP was a troll, but he continued to reply consistently and coherently (if not always maturely), and people came to accept his story and to be more or less sympathetic to his situation. It was an interesting tale.
So does the fact that the thread is no longer there mean that it was finally revealed to be one big trolling? Or have I just lost my SDMB search skills? I love a good yarn, and if the OP’s story is true, would like to see how it continues to unfold. If it was one big whoosh, then my hat is off to a good storyteller.