The Steps and Processes of Tracking a Missing Person

There are multiple approaches and steps that private investigators take when handling missing person cases, including

Background Checks and Public Record Searches

Public records hold surprising amounts of information that a private investigator can use to determine someone’s location. A missing person name lookup will typically be an investigator’s first course of action. Because access to certain types of records might be somewhat restricted, hiring private investigators with experience in law enforcement and government agencies will be of considerable value, as they will have the knowledge and connections needed to access otherwise inaccessible resources.

Surveillance and Physical Searches

In the world we live in today, you can only walk down a single block if you are recorded on multiple cameras. There are countless traffic cameras, door cameras, and business CCTV cameras recording everything happening outdoors at all times. This provides a wealth of video footage that can help investigators get to the bottom of a missing person case. Aside from combing through video footage, investigators will combine these efforts with a physical search to try and track down the person in question. Even though digital video footage can be useful, it rarely stacks up to the effectiveness of walking from door to door.

Interviews with Friends, Family, and Potential Witnesses

Interrogation is the most powerful tool in an investigator’s arsenal. During a search, one of the best ways of determining the missing person’s whereabouts is to question the people they were in contact with last. During an interview, a good investigator will analyze much more than the answers they receive from the interviewees. They will also study the person’s body language, tone, vocabulary, and other non-verbal cues that might help them trace their target.

Checking Social Media and Online Resources

The digital age has made it easier to find information about people. Social media is especially useful to private investigators as it provides detailed information about a person’s habits, movements, interests, acquaintances, and more. A person name trace online can help guide investigators to a missing person’s location by revealing where a person frequently visits, their close companions, and more.

Checking Hospitals

Unfortunately, some missing person cases will end up in tragic circumstances. Sometimes, the worst-case scenario plays out, and investigators will find their targets in hospitals or even morgues. Nobody ever hopes this is the outcome of their investigation, but it’s the investigator’s responsibility to cover all possibilities.

Private Investigator Services for Missing Family Members

One of the most challenging ordeals a family can go through, just a little short of the death of a loved one, is to have one of their members disappear. This can be especially difficult when the missing person turns out to be a child. Adults have infinitely better chances of surviving and keeping themselves safe, which is why people go through desperate efforts to locate missing children.

Our investigators understand this reality and use their vast experience in tracking down mothers, fathers, siblings, and missing children to find missing persons by name as quickly and efficiently as possible so that their families may have peace of mind.

With decades of experience under their collective belts, our experts know the best people to question, which questions to ask, and how to solicit and interpret valuable tips. Whether out on the streets or in their offices, they can focus their intellects and utilize the vast resources and technology at their disposal to achieve the desired results for their clients.

The reasons people come to us for assistance in locating someone varies significantly from case to case. Some typical circumstances we experience in the course of our work include

• Estranged loved ones you haven’t been in contact with for a long time
• Adopted children hoping to locate their biological parents
• Adults of children hoping to find parents they have never met before
• Family members trying to find runaway children that may be on drugs or suffering from mental illness
• Missing parents as a result of domestic abuse, divorce, or abandonment

Private Investigator Services for the Legal Profession

For many reasons, lawyers need private investigative services more frequently than other professions. Because they handle plenty of commercial, criminal, and civil issues on behalf of their clients, they often find themselves in need of these services. Some of the most common legal scenarios where attorneys need help locating someone include

• Cases where people skip town to avoid outstanding debt or legal trouble
• Circumstances where trusts, wills, and probate affairs require that a decedent’s heirs are located
• The abandonment or disappearance of a person’s spouse
• Spouses trying to avoid paying child support

A professional private investigative service should understand that missing person cases are urgent affairs, meaning they should make every effort to determine their targets’ whereabouts as soon as possible. No matter how hard a person on the run tries to keep from being discovered, experienced professionals have the knowledge and experience. Professionals also understand the need for discretion and tact when handling missing person cases for lawyers and process serving in case people try to avoid receiving the papers summoning them to appear in court.

Attorneys face considerable pressure, as part of their professional ethics, to keep the work they do on behalf of their clients out of the public eye. Letting a client’s information leak out to the public reflects poorly on a lawyer. This is why our team of investigators makes it a priority to keep the identity and motives of their clients as discrete and confidential as humanly possible.

What Information Should you Give a Private Investigator When Hiring Them?

Should you wish to help an investigator jumpstart their search efforts, there are various bits of information that you can provide them with. These basic details will be the foundation of any other steps we’ve covered above. This initial data will include details such as the person’s full legal name, nickname, age, phone number, home address, date of birth, and any other information that might help find someone. Remember that it will be much harder to find someone actively trying not to be found.

The most elusive persons are those trying to escape legal trouble or escape debt obligations. Hiring private investigators with a history in law enforcement or other government sectors will be a great advantage. They have the skills and knowledge to apply expert techniques and methods to track their quarry.

Final Thoughts

Hiring a private investigator might seem daunting, but it can be the most viable action in many situations. Police departments, no matter how well-intentioned or hard-working they may be, often need more resources and personnel to conduct their investigations effectively. This cannot be tolerated in missing person cases because many have an element of urgency. You can’t afford to twiddle your thumbs while the authorities get their act together. When time is of the essence, you need people on your side who will get out there immediately and get the job done. That’s what we’re here for.

Our investigators are former federal agents who had careers working in the FBI, IRS, DEA, and Secret Service, making them eminently qualified to handle the most complex missing person cases. Aside from being professionals with world-class expertise in their field, our network of operatives is dedicated to delivering results without taking advantage of clients in their hour of distress. We will take great care to keep costs to a minimum without sacrificing the quality of their efforts. We’re always ready to lend a helping hand with whatever problem you may be facing. Contact us at 1-800-577-1080 today for quick, effective, and discrete private trace and finder services.