The story on how we located the original owner is that of time, patience and a bit of luck.
The one glowing sign to the car's history was a bumper sticker reading, "I £ Cherry Point, N.C." and a parking sticker in the drivers side corner of the windshield noting 1972-1973. After asking on this board how long N.C. kept records and getting the answer, we wrote in to the NC DMV. What we got in return was the key that unlocked the history of the car.
The name on the lien card confirmed that a Dr. had owned the Impala. An another piece of information it had noted that Dr. Miller once resided in Michigan. After using the Google machine I found a Dr located in AZ with the same name. Upon reading his bio, I had found that he had graduated from the University of Michigan. Getting closer. And finally, after another Google search I found that a Dr. Donald Miller was in charge of the Dr's alumni reunion for his graduating class and had submitted an email address on the board. Whalla!!!
I emailed Dr. Miller.
Wes - "Hello Dr. Miller, Did you happen to own a 1969 Impala SS with a 427?"
Dr. Miller - "Yes; was a great car; bright red with white interior; when I sold it, it was in mint condition."
Follow up from Dr Miller " I’ll get back to you and your dad next week; I have a real sense of gratitude to your family; I loved that car."
It's things like this that make our hobby so precious. I would imagine Dr. Miller had given up, or had never even thought of finding or seeing his old SS again. Now were looking at meeting him and offering Dr Miller a ride in his old car.