this thread from May 8th's Philly.com (the same day Nick was beheaded) said this about Michael, the father: He [NICK] usually called home once a day and e-mailed several times; Michael Berg is his [Nick's] business manager, and they needed to stay in touch.
[by the way, I too, find it odd there were no stories about NB's disappearance until the day of his beheading]
And here's another oddity... One of NB's good friends in Iraq was a supposed Chilean freelance journalist Hugo Infante, and it was Infante that made the heresay statement, after the beheading, that Americans had detained Nick the first time.
But it is odd that Hugo Infante has no history as a journalist prior to his two stints as a photographer in Iraq after the war.
In May 2003 he sold a number of pro-coalition photos (numbers 1 thru 11) to UPI. But then Hugo apparently left Iraq, only to return the following year, at the SAME TIME AS NICK.
Note: Nick had been in Iraq the first time, Dec 2003 to Feb 2004, and had been mostly unsuccessful in finding work per CNN. And in the same brief timeframe where Nick was back in the U.S.A, so was this 'Chilean' journalist Hugo Infante. Infante sold photo #69 to UPI, captioned: "Azamat Begg, father of one of the prisoners of war ... walks around the White House protesting for the human rights of the prisoners, on March 8, 2004 in Washington"
Then Nick went to Iraq a 2nd time on March 14th, and apparently, so did Hugo Infante. Hugo sells the now less-flattering Baghdad photos, (numbers 68 thru 50) on March 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21, to UPI.
Infante sold NO photos March 22, 23, 24, or 25th. Comparing those blackout dates to Nick's sightings, and you'll see Nick traveled to the northern city of Mosul, supposedly to visit his 'Yassin' relative, and checked into a southern Mosul hotel at 6:30pm on the 23rd, (while carrying Jordanian, Iranian, AND Iraqi currency, which the clerk found very odd). He said he would be visiting 'family' the next day, and he was arrested near his hotel at 9pm on the 24th.
Infante again sold Baghdad photos taken on the 26th, 29th, 30th, and 31st. (no photos April 1, 2, or 3). Infante was in Kufa, 100km south of Baghdad on April 4th (photo 19). No photos April 5, 6, 7 or 8th. (and NB was released April 6th). By April 9th, Infante had returned again to Baghdad (photos 12 thru 18). Infante never sold another photo after April 9th, which was also the last day friends saw Nick Berg.
Hotel staff said he left at 7pm on the 10th, left behind several of his things, including his exercise weights and his work-contact business cards, and would hopefully return 'in a few days'.
Infante was also close enough to Berg to be able to trace Nick's cell-phone useage on April 19.
SO... my conclusion to all this, is that IF Nick Berg was sent to Iraq to spy for Michael Moore, then it seems that Hugo Infante may have been his 'partner'.