Picking The Knots

knot 1

Where To First Start In A Private Investigation?

Some of the toughest investigations begin with just one or two bread crumbs.  Often we are asked to find missing heirs or next of kin with no information whatsoever other than the first and last name of the client’s represented party.  The first step in this type of investigation is to identify and develop as much information as needed about the represented party.  Without this, there is no investigation.

Even the smallest piece of information, such as a friends first name, a brief mention in a news article or a police report can be the first step to untying the knot that will lead to identifying and locating any surviving next of kin.  There are obvious questions to seek answers to, but there are other, not so obvious questions, that often are the key to unraveling the mystery.  What were a person’s hobbies?  Did they have an accent?  Were they a veteran?  What were their parent’s names or where were they from?  This last question might seem a bit odd, as many parties of interest are advanced in years themselves.  But, you would be surprised at how effective taking one step back can be in moving an investigation forward.  All it takes is picking the right knot, and the problem is typically solved with a few key strokes and a phone call.

I can’t tell you how many times clients have called us for help on a seemingly impossible locate case, and we have been able to return results to them the very same day, often within just an hour.  While these cases may have had a large budget, we have been able to effectively produce a result in an extremely modest amount of time.