There's only going to be one way to end this... Talk to a fucking lawyer, and stop being so self-pitiful about yourselves. Man up, and do something real about this. YES, it does suck big balls that you dumped a bunch of money w/ this dude and are losing your asses now, but calling him, and e-mailing him bitching about it obviously isn't going to do any good anytime soon... Especially for the out of state guys that don't even have the option of just going down there. GET SOMEONE ELSE INVOLVED, weather it be local authorities, a civil lawyer, talk w/ your credit card company and paypal... Basically taking all the advice that's in this thread so far is your best bet at getting your shit back in a non-death filled way and getting this Jake dude back by getting him in hot water. Unless your down w/ the whole death thing, cause then we all know what to do
Best of luck