Can apple contact original iPod owner

This weekend I purchased an iPod touch from someone at a community garage sale. It included the original case and accessories so I was confident it was not stolen.

I had the owner do a factory reset before purchasing it. Neither of us realized that the owner would still have to log into the device again for me to setup the device with my own Apple ID. I discovered this that night. This is the first time I've encountered this problem buying an Apple Device. Looks like a change in your system. In anycase, I tried to locate the vender but was not successful.

I have the the Serial Number of the device and a partial Apple ID. Is Apple support able to send an email to the previous owner to ask them to follow the steps below so I can setup the device?