PORTLAND, Ore. - An Internet provider has left hundreds of customers high and dry, and after a month of digging, KATU News uncovered even more questions about Cyberconnectic's owner and his business practices.

Tonya Meyer and Ed Gallagher are customers of Cyberconnectics, a locally-owned Internet provider that serves about 500 customers, mostly in the Willamette Valley.

Both Meyer and Gallagher depend on the company for e-mails and web hosting, but after prepaying for the month, some customers a whole year, the service went down the first week of February and did not come back.

"There's no way to get those e-mails to go anywhere else," said Meyer.

"There was zero information from them," said Gallagher.

Distraught customers descended on Cyberconnectics' office in Wilsonville.

"There's been a long parade of people," said Steve Pearson, who not only had a business next door to Cyberconnectics but was a customer too.

"Being so dependent on the Internet, it just basically shut us down," he said.

Because of the turmoil, the property manager told Cyberconnectics to move out, and they did - with no word to their customers.

More than a month later, we found Cyberconnectics' owner, John Ogden, operating his business out of a house in Salem.

When we asked Ogden to explain exactly why it is that customers do not have service, he had an answer.

"It's simple - Cyberconnectics.com registrations, domain name names have been stolen," he said.  "The server has been hacked.  The database has been hacked."

Yet the domain registration shows that that happened on Feb. 20, nearly two weeks after Cyberconnectics went offline.

Les Fenison sold Cyberconnectics to Ogden in May.  He said the reason the company went down in the first place was because it did not pay its Internet and phone bill, tens of thousands of dollars, and Fenison said he hasn't been paid in full either.

"He had $30,000 left to pay me by Aug.12, 2006," Fenison said.  "And?" we asked him.  "No money," he said. 

Ogden owns another Internet company named Technicall Networks, Inc., or Technicall Holdings, Technicall Networks, Technicall Management Services or Technicall USA, depending on which state document you are looking at.

Technicall was evicted from a downtown Salem building last year.  The property manager said the outstanding bill for rent and storage is more than $27,000.

"And I can assure you that he owes me over $36,000," said Ogden, who said it is because of destroyed equipment.

Then there is Betty Perry, who invested with Ogden in 2003. 

"In the neighborhood of $300,000 when everything is added up," Perry said.

There was a settlement in the case, but neither Ogden, nor his attorney, will comment.

"I was going to retire next year," said Perry, who is still working.  "So sorry."

We confronted Ogden, saying "everything goes back to this person stole from me, that person stole from me, I don't owe that person."

"I can tell you straight up that I run a very good business," Ogden replied.  "I offer a service and people are using it."

"Not many people are using it right now," we said.

After our interview, a message was posted on Cyberconnectics' Web site offering customers a refund.  As directed, we had both Meyer and Gallagher submit a request via e-mail.  The e-mail bounced back and neither has gotten a dime.

"I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I would have run into somebody like this to buy my business," said Fenison.  "I almost feel guilty for selling it to him."

"Subject to us getting our domain name back, Cyberconnectics will be back in business," said Ogden.

Ogden is also selling services on eBay under the name Voice One Direct.

KATU News has contacted the Oregon Attorney General's Office.  They have opened an investigation and are taking complaints.