Well, a good poster on the Hoffman site who's a little closer to Robert of Lounge Audio was able to get a hold of him and just as I suspected, he was just overwhelmed with orders after the Stereophile review. He was informed that he has one more repair to do before he gets to mine. He wasn't answering emails, texts or calls. He apparently is truly a one-man operation and has no one to help him in doing the menial things such as answering emails or calls. I don't know if this is by choice because he can't afford to pay someone, didn't have the time to find someone or simply choses not to get help.
So, I should be getting my gear sometime soon but then again, I was told two months ago when he was still answering calls that he would get to it "soon".
Although, I don't consider this resolved until I actually get my gear back, I feel much better about the whole thing now that I know the owner is not dead or something terrible like that. Then I would feel terrible.
Thanks to all who bothered to comment especially those that supported my position or those that gave me pause to think rationally.