SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego modeling company has not been paying its models, and that’s caught the attention of California labor officials, according to the findings of a 10News investigation.

“I was just mortified because this is the first time anything like this has ever happened,” said Julia Thompson, a model who lives in and worked a promotional event in Boston for a San Diego company called Promo Models.

“I began to wonder what was going on,” said Thompson. “I left message after message, after message.”

It's been months, and Thompson said she is still waiting for her $840 paycheck. She came to the I-Team when she never got paid.

Models all over the country complained to the I-Team. They said they worked promotional events for big-name clients like Sprint, Dunkin Donuts, Kool cigarettes, Viactiv, L'Oreal, and Smashbox.

The models told the I-Team they didn’t get their pay. Further, they said the company’s owner won’t even tell them what is going on.

The I-Team spent weeks looking for Promo Models' owner, Lucas Beddows. Promo Models closed its doors and its post office box too. I-Team staff members visited his Mission Beach house, located just steps from the beach, but turned up nothing. The house next door to Beddows’ home is renting for $10,500 a month.

Beddows also was not at the San Diego Judo School, a Sports Arena-area club he started in 2007.

Promo Model clients told the I-Team the company required payment in full before an event could be booked. Capcom, a Comic-Con vendor, told the I-Team: “We paid Promo Models in advance."

Canceled checks show that an Ohio company paid Promo Models $9000 in July 2008 before an event at the Minnesota State Fair.

The Promo Models Web site blog lists former "American Idol" contestant Kristy Lee Cook as a past Promo Model. But Cook's agent told the I-Team that’s not true. Cook never worked for the company.

Beddows refused to speak with the I-Team, but his attorneys contacted the I-Team. Attorney Dave Skilling warned the I-Team to stop "continuing to send cameras/newspeople to his [Beddows] residence."

Erick Altona, another attorney, accused the I-Team of "attempting to extort an interview with Lucas by threatening to besmirch the [Judo] School."

The California Labor Board has 19 complaints against Promo Models for non-payment. Promo Models is still in business, using the Internet to hire models.