"Google search anxiety" lemmings who want their membership to be deleted?

[Make Money?]

Its not uncommon for a user who registered under their REAL name to get in touch with me as forum admin to REMOVE all trace of them.

The reasons vary..

1) Someone stalking them on the web - following them around from forum to forum waging a hate campaign. The user doesn't want the stalker to get any extra info via forum posts on them. - Fair enough - good reason - understandable..

2) Google search terror - the user realises that their contribution on the forum will come up in a Google search...

It's this that I have a problem with. My forum is a tech information exchange website - and to suddenly lose 50 threads that hold valuable discussions and info by DELETING THEM at the request of the user - is depressing.

If I don't prune posts and delete the user - the posts by the user are all set to 'guest' but I have learned - this is NOT searchable. So if they get agitated and say 'hey I said delete all my posts and you haven't you have just changed them to "guest"' I am in real trouble - cause I cant then go find them all.. (searching user "Guest" does nothing...)

Is there a better way?

Can I try to persuade them to simply change their user name?

I wrote to one via PM saying even if I DID delete his name - it would probably come up in Google Archive and there was nothing I could do about that at all. He wasn’t listening and requested total deletion.

Its hit the news that employers might be searching the web to 'check up' on people and that some are removing the names from things like My Space so someone snooping doesn’t find another private side to them. My forum doesn't have any 'sex' content whatsoever but the name of it is a little oddball... and can be misunderstood.

How best to deal with these "Google search anxiety" lemmings who want to throw them and 4 years worth of valuable posts off a cliff.. For nothing?

Thanks for any tips on how to handle this...