I had a similar experience in relation to the lost paycheck thing. I worked for a company that did security and event staffing. I worked primarily as security for a restaurant in little Italy. Because I worked in a semi-permanent position I never went to the office and as such never heard anything about how the company was doing. Till one day I get a letter saying the company was dead. I had been working for about a week before finding this out. The company never sent out our last paychecks. I later found ot from a fellow employee that worked in the offices that our boss/company founder had stolen everyones last paycheck and tried to flee the country. Thankfully the restaurant liked me enough that that back payed my for my time and hired me on as a temporary employee till a new company picked up the contract.