This appeal arises out of the trial court’s denial of defendant Jennifer Dunn’s motion to dismiss the complaint filed against her by Neil Kirsten. Dunn argued in her motion that she was not personally served with the complaint within the applicable statute of limitation. As more fully discussed below, we conclude that Kirsten properly obtained service by publication against Dunn for purposes of proceeding against his own insurer. The record shows, however, that he failed to exercise due diligence in having Dunn personally served within the two-year statute of limitation for personal injuries. The trial court therefore erred in denying Dunn’s motion to dismiss. On December 3, 2001, Neil Kirsten filed a complaint against Jennifer Dunn and Ezimar Reis seeking damages for injuries he sustained in a vehicular collision that occurred on December 6, 1999. The sheriff’s returns of service reflected that the defendants could not be found at their last known addresses. Kirsten’s uninsured/underinsured motorist carrier, Allstate Insurance Company, was served and filed an answer. Kirsten moved for service by publication on the defendants, stating in his supporting affidavit that he had “made diligent efforts to find them,” that he had hired a skip tracer to determine their addresses, and that the skip tracer had determined that Dunn had “the same service address . . . as listed on the complaint.” He stated further that he believed the defendants “may be concealing themselves to avoid the service of summons.” The trial court granted the motion on December 18, 2001.
In January 2004, more than two years after the complaint was filed, Allstate moved for appointment of a special process server. The motion was granted, and Jennifer Dunn was served with the summons and complaint on February 17, 2004. She filed an answer to the complaint and moved to dismiss on the grounds of insufficient service of process and expiration of the statute of limitation. She submitted an affidavit in support of her motion, in which she stated that she lived at a particular address at the time of the collision and that she “remained at this address for approximately two years and three months following the accident.” She stated further that she moved to another residence in March 2002, and she provided the address of that residence. She stated that she had been living at that address “consistently since March, 2002 or for the past two 2 years.” The trial court denied the motion, and we granted Dunn’s application for interlocutory review.
