Parents hire detectives to keep an eye on children vacationing in Goa

The next time you head to Goa for the year-end break, take special care to plan your itinerary- one of the several unknown faces that you come across. may actually have been tailing you all through your visit.

When Arti Chhabra was questioned by her parents about her late night parties at Anjuna while holidaying in Goa, she was aghast. What shocked her more were the pictures her parents had of her wild celebrations in this coastal state.

Arti's parents had hired the services of a private investigating agency to track her movements in this 'terrifying' coastal state.

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Tom Cruise accused of hiring a private investigator to wire tap a magazine editor's phone

Tom Cruise is accused of hiring a private investigator to wire tap a magazine editors' phone lines in 2001. The court documents were published by Radaronline yesterday. The magazine editor, Michael David Sapir wants $5 million in damages and says he has evidence that Cruise hired private investigator Anthony Pellicano, who is now in jail for wire tapping, fraud and unauthorized access of national law enforcement databases.

The lawsuit also names Bertram Fields, who was Tom's lawyer back in 2001 when Tom sued Sapir for $100 million dollars. The 2001 lawsuit stemmed from Sapir's efforts to prove Tom was gay. Sapir was the Editor of Bold magazine, who promised to pay $500,000 for video proof that Tom Cruise had indulged in homosexual activity. Sapir then issued a press release saying he had received an email with a video file attachment that could prove Tom was gay.

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Private investigators take up Townsend missing-girl case

Robert Reinhart said he and his colleagues have no more than four months left to solve the case of 13-year-old Deborah Ann Quimby, who disappeared May 3, 1977.

After the self-imposed deadline, they will announce their theories regarding her disappearance, said Reinhart, an investigator with the Missing Persons Special Investigations Unit.

The Washington, D.C.-based company, formed earlier this year, takes on unsolved, "cold" cases for a $10,000 fee. It has yet to solve a case.

Reinhart said his company took on the Quimby case on its own in mid-October. It has not been hired.

Police Chief Erving Marshall Jr. said he learned about Missing Persons after residents called the Police Department reporting letters soliciting donations to help pay for the private investigation.

After doing some of his own research on the company and talking with Reinhart about his probe, Marshall has embraced the company's help.

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Hunter rejects plea offer for mistaking investigator for turkey

An Annsville man accused of shooting a private investigator with a shotgun after mistaking him for a turkey earlier this year rejected a plea offer Wednesday in Oneida County Court.

The attorney for William Wehnke, 51, of Briarwood Lane, declined to disclose what kind of punishment prosecutors offered Wehnke if he pleaded guilty. Nevertheless, the attorney said his client has no plan to accept guilt at this time.

“It doesn’t matter what the offer is, because he isn’t going to plead to anything – it’s a hunting accident,” Assistant Public Defender Mark Curley said on Wehnke’s behalf. “No offer is a good offer if you’re innocent.”

Wehnke is facing charges of felony second-degree assault, misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and unlawful manner of taking, a violation that alleges Wehnke was using the wrong type of ammunition for turkey hunting.

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Private investigator takes plea in Vero Beach eye institute case

A private investigator linked to illegal electronic surveillance of some doctors at the Florida Eye Institute in early 2008 has entered a plea that could spare her jail time.

Brenda Doan Johnson, of the 3400 block of Atlantic Boulevard, pleaded no contest on Tuesday as part of a deal reached with the State Attorney’s Office, her attorney, Andrew Metcalf said.

Circuit Judge Robert Hawley is scheduled to sentence her 1:30 p.m. Feb. 11.

None of the doctors were present as she entered the plea.

Outside Hawley’s courtroom, Johnson tearfully said she apologizes to doctors Karen Todd, Val Zudans and Mark Gambee.

“I didn’t know this was illegal,” she said.

The criminal case is the only one to come out of a deep disagreement between former Florida Eye Institute partners that led to a civil lawsuit and a breakup of the partners.

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Cleveland investigator solves case, reunites daughter with family

The case of a missing 16-year-old girl hit private investigator Paul Baeppler in the heart.

The Cleveland-based investigator knew that if his daughters disappeared, the pain of not knowing their fate would be worse than death.

The woman on the other end of the telephone line said in a thick Polish accent that the missing girl, her niece, left her home on the southern coast of New York's Long Island in September with a man from Ohio whom she met online.

The girl's parents had filed a missing person report in Suffolk County. Detectives exhausted their leads.

Then, a little more than a month ago, the girl called home. She spoke quietly as though afraid someone nearby would hear, then abruptly said she had to go and hung up. Using the phone number from the caller ID, the authorities tried to track the girl, but again hit dead ends.

The aunt knew an attorney who knew a second attorney who had referred her to Baeppler. Could he help?

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PRIVATE EYE SAYS “TIGER WOODS GOT BITTEN BY THE TECHNOLOGY BUG”

Rhode Island Private Eye, Vic Pichette, of Genesis Investigations, a 22-year veteran says “ It is amazing to me that a person like Tiger Woods did not know that everything he was doing on his and others people’s cell phones and computers is out there for all of us to see. I have no idea what he was thinking.

“What I refer to as “The Bug” Pichette says is how communication technologies can easily be tracked just like a BUG, and if you are not informed, that bug will come back and bite you.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t get calls from someone who suspects a spouse or employee is using the cell phone or computer for suspicious activities. People have to understand that even if they delete information from a cell phone or the computer, in does not mean that is has been completely removed, and the information can be found by savvy investigators.

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We're watching you: NRL recruits private eye

The NRL has hired a former police officer to investigate off-field incidents and report his findings to a panel to be set up to determine whether clubs have taken appropriate action against misbehaving players.

Under the new guidelines, to be introduced next season, clubs will remain responsible for the initial investigation into allegations concerning player behaviour - and any subsequent punishment - but will be required to submit their findings for independent assessment.

The report from the club will then be reviewed by the NRL's private investigator, who may decide to conduct his own inquiries and issue a separate report for the panel - chief operating officer Graham Annesley and former players Michael Buettner and Mark O'Neill - to consider.

Annesley, Buettner and O'Neill won't have the power to impose penalties but will make a recommendation to NRL chief executive David Gallop on whether a club has taken sufficient action.

Gallop will retain the power to decide if further penalties should be imposed on the player and club.

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Tiger Woods Affair - Why the Famous Cheat - accoding to a Private Detective

Reports of Tiger Woods' infidelity place the legendary golfer on a diverse list of high-profile people caught in extramarital affairs in recent years.

Woods has dominated sports pages and gossip columns for the last week, beginning with the unusual single-car accident in front of his home. Rumors circulated that Woods' wife Elin Nordegren used a golf club to smash the car's back window to get her husband out of the car.

As Woods tried to keep the matter private, reports circulated from other women who claimed to have been romantically involved with the golfer. Woods ultimately confessed to "transgressions."

Woods has joined other prominent figures who have admitted to adultery, including former ESPN analyst Steve Phillips, late-night talk show host David Letterman, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, tennis legend Chris Evert, former presidential candidate John Edwards and NBA star Kobe Bryant. Former Ravens quarterback Steve McNair was shot to death July 4 by a woman with whom he was having an affair.

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Gun permit lies trigger probe of Syracuse private eye

Noah Felice regularly dangled his private investigator license on a chain around his Courtesy of Onondaga County Sheriff's OfficePrivate investigator Noah Feliceneck for all to see, his former business partner said.

Felice had two antennae attached to the top of his trunk to make the vehicle look like an undercover police car — but they were wired to nothing, said Leigh Hunt, Syracuse’s former police chief who owned a PI business with Felice until they had a falling out in 2006.

Felice claimed in a History Channel broadcast last year that, in 1980, extraterrestrials used a beam of light to crash the plane he was piloting. The show’s producers said his credibility made the case seminal in the history of UFO sightings.

But for years, Felice has been working under false pretenses, according to police in two jurisdictions.

Felice, 58, of 5421 Springview Drive, Fayetteville, was charged in recent months in Syracuse and Pennsylvania with using deceit to obtain pistol permits and his PI licenses.

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Man Shoots Private Investigator, Claims He Was Aiming For Turkey

An Annsville, N.Y., man says he was aiming for a turkey, not a private investigator following up on his workers’ compensation claim, before firing his shotgun earlier this year.

William Wehnke, 51, pleaded not guilty to assault charges in Oneida County Court Dec. 2, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch. Wehnke was arraigned on a three-count grand jury indictment that included felony second-degree assault and unlawful manner of taking, a violation that claims the man used an inappropriate type of ammunition for hunting turkey.

Wehnke’s indictment does not say he knowingly shot at a person, but accuses him of recklessness in causing injury to Matthew Brady.

In May, Wehnke said he spotted a turkey in a nearby cornfield and took aim and fired, hitting Brady with a shotgun blast in the side of his body, his back and legs. His injuries required surgery. Brady was investigating Wehnke at the time of the shooting to monitor his workers’ compensation claim, according to the report.

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SPOOFEM.com Donates Services to Private Investigators

Ericka Holman, Interim President of SPOOFEM.COM, will be donating SPOOFEM cards to licensed law enforcement, private investigators, and bail bondmen professionals to give them a feel for the Spoofing service for the month of December. Applicants can register online at www.SPOOFEM.com by clicking on the investigator icon located on the homepage.

"We want to give these professionals the experience of using our products and services. It is important for them to know how it works, and is it going to fit into their organization," says Holman. "We hope to give them the feedback and response they need when searching for people, to see if this may be a quick way for them to get information without going through the normal channels."

The main service these professionals will be able to benefit from is the Caller ID Spoofing service. Caller ID Spoofing is a service that allows you to dial any phone number and have any number you choose show up in the recipient's caller ID. Users are also able to change their voice to sound like that of a man or a woman, record the conversation, and have it emailed to them within seconds of hanging up the call. SPOOFEM.COM even allows you to send text messages and emails that appear to have come from someone else.

In addition to providing consumers with a caller ID spoofing service, SPOOFEM.COM also supplies
spy products such as voice changers, detection kits, GPS tracking systems, and computer security software.

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ACORN Dumped Sensitive Documents as Probe Began, Private Investigator Says

Derrick Roach, a licensed investigator based in San Diego, told FoxNews.com he paid an impromptu visit to the city's ACORN branch on Oct. 9 and watched from his car as a man tossed bags of files into a Dumpster outside the building.

After ACORN staff left for the day, he says, he searched the trash bin and discovered more than 20,000 documents he believes point to illicit relationships between ACORN and a bank and a labor union — as well as confidential information that could put thousands at risk for identity theft.

"We're talking people's driver's license numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, tax returns, credit reports" — all tossed in public view in the Dumpster, he said.

In one document shared with FoxNews.com, an ACORN employee's name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and driver's license number were revealed, and photocopies of the employee's license and Social Security card were also included. Another document showed bank account information for a woman paying an ACORN membership fee by check.

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Arizona Legislative Memo: Traffic Camera Companies Need PI Licenses

Legislative branch lawyers believe traffic camera companies should have a private investigator license.

Traffic camera companies operating in Arizona may be committing a crime by operating without a private investigator's license, a newly released memorandum to the state legislature explained. The non-partisan Arizona Legislative Council, the legislature's official source for drafting and reviewing legislation, looked at the licensing question on behalf of state Representative Sam Crump (R-Anthem).

Under Arizona law, an individual who is not a police officer or insurance adjuster may not "secure evidence to be used... in the trial of civil or criminal cases and the preparation therefor" without a private investigator's license. Violating this statute is a class 1 misdemeanor, and the legislative branch lawyers believe Arizona's automated ticketing contractors could be guilty of this crime.

"Applying liberal construction of the definition of private investigator under the statute, the activities conducted by a photo enforcement company such as Redflex arguably fit within that definition," the memo stated. "Mainly, Redflex gathers data and processes it for the purpose of identifying violators of the state's traffic regulations.... In addition, ARS 32-2409 provides an extensive list of exceptions to the requirement of obtaining a license. It does not appear that Redflex would fall within any of these exemptions. Arguably, if the legislature wanted to exempt photo enforcement agencies from licensure, it could have done so by adding such agencies to the list of exemptions."

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'Private detective' fleeced missing Madeleine McCann fund of £300,000

A 'Walter Mitty' private investigator who claimed to be an experienced secret agent was allegedly paid £300,000 from the funds raised to try to find Madeleine McCann.

Thousands of members of the public donated money to Gerry and Kate McCann's fund after their three-year-old daughter went missing during a holiday in Portugal in May 2007.

Now it has emerged that a sizeable portion of that money was paid to self-proclaimed security consultant Kevin Halligen, 50, a Briton who boasted that secret service contacts in Washington DC could provide satellite images of Portugal from the night Madeleine disappeared.

In fact, it is claimed, the only satellite picture he produced came from the publicly available Google Earth website - and late last year he disappeared from Washington after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a warrant for his arrest over an alleged £1million fraud.

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FBI experience helps prepare for life as private investigator

Before retiring to Charleston in 1990, Jeff Dossett spent 18 years with the FBI in Newark, N.J., working against organized crime.

He dealt with drugs and cartels and had to use his imagination to be one step ahead of crime. He worked across agencies on a variety of offenses and his experiences were as differing as the criminals he pursued. He says it was the perfect preparation for his job now as a private investigator.

Dossett, 66, now a Summerville resident, is senior partner at Charleston Investigative Associates in North Charleston. His experience throughout his 30-year career at the FBI, his three years in the Army and his Long Island University master's degree in criminal justice mean he's pretty much seen it all.

Now, he handles everything from interviewing people, running surveillance, courthouse searches or just plain old digging up information. Formed in 2001, Charleston Investigative Associates is an umbrella company that handles all types of cases and employs all former federal agents and former local law enforcement.

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Marriages keep city sleuths busy

Her marriage was fixed and everything from the groom, his family to their financial status seemed perfect for 21-year-old Simran (name changed). Even his profile on a matrimony portal was one of the most popular. But a last-minute check by a detective agency opened up a can of worms. Not only was the groom a divorcee but, in fact, had three children. Besides, he was an alcoholic the main reason why his wife walked out.

At a time when marriages are being decided over the internet and couples prefer to wait till they build a flashy career, the Association of Private Detectives Of India (APDI) has come up with startling facts for the city. 

According to Kunwar Vikram Singh, chairman APDI, there has been a phenomenal rise in the number of brides and grooms seeking to "cross-check one another's background'' before tying the knot. "There has been a 36% increase in the number of people going for pre-marital checks. Significantly, a huge 41% rise has been recorded in the post-marital queries. The average number of queries with individual agencies before marriage is around 60 per month, while post-marriage queries number around 45,'' said Singh.

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Private Investigator Finds Drug Abuse, Prostitution and More at Hedonisom Hotel

A private investigator and former FBI agent alleged he had seen open drug abuse, prostitution, distribution of marijuana and "numerous acts of lewd and lascivious behaviour" at John Issa's Hedonism hotel.

"Five independent, unwitting sources were developed by the investigator," said Attorney Reginald Clyne of Clyne and Associates, representing the defendants in a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida, where Issa, the SuperClubs chairman, is claiming that he was defamed by e-mails traced to computers originating in that US state.

"These sources reported their observations of these activities to the investigator, corroborating, in detail, acts of prostitution, drug use and distribution and lewd behaviour," said Clyne.

The attorney presented the private eye's report as Issa gave a follow-up deposition in the ongoing lawsuit that began in January this year. He named the investigator as Larry Holifield who spent three
days watching activities at Hedonism, part of the SuperClubs hotel chain.

"The resort was staffed with uniformed security guards who were able to witness the wide open drug abuse and prostitution. The guards, however, took no action to prevent these illegal activities?" Clyne quoted the former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent as reporting.

"You wanted proof, you wanted a person, I will give it to you," said Clyne, responding to Issa's insistence throughout the deposition that he provided evidence to support his allegations.

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Ex Phone Worker Guilty in Hollywood Wiretap Case

A federal jury has convicted a former telephone company employee of three
counts of lying to the FBI and committing perjury before a grand jury and district court in connection with the wiretapping investigation of former private investigator Anthony Pellicano.

Joann Wiggan, 56, of Burbank, was found guilty yesterday afternoon of
committing perjury before a federal grand jury, lying to special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and committing perjury during a previous criminal trial. The jury deliberated less than one hour before reaching its guilty verdicts.

During a week-long trial in United States District Court in Los Angeles, the jury heard that Wiggan repeatedly denied under oath having any contact with, or having retrieved any voicemail messages from, former SBC employee and Pellicano associate Ray Turner. Telephone records introduced into evidence, however, showed more than 125 calls from Turner to Wiggan's work voicemail account, 18 calls from Pellicano's office to that voicemail account, and more than 1,000 calls from Wiggan to that account during the time of the wiretapping conspiracy. In closing arguments, prosecutors said the evidence showed that Wiggan, a facilities technician with access to the mainframes
at all SBC offices in Los Angeles, had been the person physically connecting the illegal wiretaps at Turner's and Pellicano's direction.

Wiggan previously stood trial in 2006 on five counts of committing perjury before the grand jury. The jury in that 2006 case acquitted Wiggan of four counts, and a mistrial was declared on the fifth count. In yesterday’s verdicts, the jury convictedWiggan of the unresolved count from the first trial, as well as new charges of lying to the FBI in 2004 and committing perjury during her 2006 trial. Wiggan is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer on February 22. At sentencing, Wiggan faces a statutory maximum penalty of15 years in federal prison.

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Teacher Hires Private Investigator to Catch Lying Parents

A HARPENDEN headteacher revealed he hired a private investigator to catch parents cheating the school admissions system and admitted he continues to spy on the families of prospective pupils.
Norman Hoare, headteacher at St George's School in Sun Lane, admitted using the extreme measure to prevent parents lying to get their children into his school.

It was first brought to the Review's attention that Mr Hoare had been spying on prospective parents, who he suspected of by-passing the entry criteria by renting property in the town, in 2007.
But Mr Hoare admitted to the Review today that he continues to snoop on doubtful parents by visiting the addresses supplied to confirm whether an application is genuine.

On occasions, Mr Hoare said he and his deputy have sat in a car inconspicuously waiting outside the suspected addresses at key times of the day to check for activity.

He said: "When I have done it on the rare occasion we are looking for the nature or kind of accommodation that the applicant is living in. Is it a one-bedroom flat? Are the lights on? Is it occupied in the morning? You have to give yourself confirmation that people are actually there.

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Private Investigator Searches for Answers 38 Years LAter

Each year, thousands of children and young adults vanish without a trace. For families searching for their missing loved ones, it can become a costly and emotionally overwhelming pursuit. That's where private investigator Tom Shamshak comes in.

For the past 10 years, Shamshak, 59, a retired police chief from Winthrop, Mass., has worked pro bono to help families track down their missing loved ones. He also works as program director of the Certificate in Professional Investigation program at Boston University, where students are trained over six months to become private investigators.

"At this point in my career, it's about giving back," he said. "I think it's the right thing to do."

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Oprah Challenges Taconic Crash Investigator on Show

Oprah Winfrey devoted her show yesterday to the Taconic Parkway tragedy, challenging an investigator's insistence that the driver of the doomed minivan was drug and alcohol free at the time of the crash that killed eight people.

Three months ago, Diane Schuler drove her minivan full of kids into oncoming traffic, killing herself, her daughter, three nieces and the three occupants of the car she hit.  A toxicology report found that Schuler had significant levels of marijuana and more than double the legal limit of alcohol in her system at the time of the crash -- a finding her husband has vehemently denied.

Daniel Schuler is so convinced of his wife's innocence that he hired a private investigator to find out what really happened that July day.

Appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show via Skype, investigator Tom Ruskin insisted Schuler was not an alcoholic.

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Price Albert Regrets Not Paying Private Investigation Bills

If you hire a private investigator to uncover all the dirt that can be found on you, it would be wise to pay your bills to him. So discovered Prince Albert II of Monaco this week.

Prince Albert (a.k.a. Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi) hired California resident Robert Eringer to be his intelligence advisor in 2002. The prince paid the former FBI operative hundreds of thousands of dollars to investigate individuals of concern, scandals, and any thing that threatened the prince’s image.
Then in 2006, the prince fired Eringer.

Eringer feels he’s still owed money by the prince, so he has sued him in California. In his breach of contract suit, he reveals all of the dirt and secrets that he spent four years collecting.

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Witness Scared Off, Defense Under Investigation

A San Francisco defense attorney - already under fire for orchestrating an incident in which alleged gang members stood in court as a witness testified against their friend - is at the center of what a judge called a "reprehensible" attempt to keep a victim of an attempted murder from testifying.

San Francisco police say a private investigator working with defense attorney Eric Safire repeatedly called Ladarius Greer, 21, the victim in the attempted murder case against Safire's client Phil Pitney, 19. Greer has now vanished, and the trial started Tuesday without him.

Safire denied knowing about any effort to prevent Greer from taking the stand.

Pitney, who prosecutors say is a member of the Eddy Rock gang in the Western Addition, is accused of shooting Greer in the head at Fillmore and McAllister streets on April 12. He is charged with attempted murder with a gang enhancement.

In one cell phone message that Greer provided to police before he vanished this month, private investigator Steve Vender told Greer that he was being sought in a warrant out of Solano County and would be arrested if he showed up in court in the Pitney case.

Vender then suggested that if Greer didn't testify, prosecutors would be forced to drop and refile the charges. He indicated that a critical date for the case was Oct. 13.

"OK, so it's October and it's a good time to visit the Fresno Riviera ... and stay well," Vender said in the message, a transcript of which was introduced in court.

Police said in reports given to the prosecution that the call had been made from Safire's law office.

Read more here.

Dictionary of DNA and Genome Technology Now Available

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c91722) has announced the addition of "Dictionary of DNA and Genome Technology" to their offering.

DNA technology has a vital role in diverse fields such as criminal investigation and gene therapy - dynamic areas involving many specialized terms and techniques. This unique dictionary offers current, detailed, accessible information to lecturers, researchers, students and technicians throughout the biomedical sciences. This title features more up-to-date than existing textbooks in many aspects of DNA technology - with over 1,000 references from mainstream journals. It provides clear explanations of terms, techniques, and tests, including commercial systems, with detailed coverage of many important procedures and methods. It explains not only well-established methodology but includes new technology and data from the latest research journals, going well beyond the remit of most science dictionaries. It contains essay-style entries on many major topics to assist newcomers to the field. It covers topics relevant to medicine (diagnosis and gene therapy); veterinary science; biotechnology; biochemistry; pharmaceutical science/drug development; molecular biology...


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A Day in the Life of a Private Investigator

 He's the guy in the background you never notice, always the "man standing behind the man."
Well, not anymore. With the news that private investigators located the body of Kate Waring, private investigators are right up front.

"You can't solve crimes if you can't get the information," said James Randolph of Randolph and Habersham Investigations. It appears Randolph and Tommy Blackwood can get the information.

Randolph's company helped lead police to Waring's body. So, what is a typical day like for these guys? "It's exciting, it's exciting - it really is," said investigator Blackwood.

That said, don't think they have stake-outs in disguised vans full of hi-tech equipment. "Those type of scenarios are pretty nil, most often you won't see a white van," said Blackwood.

Read more here.

Bellevue private investigator accused of ripoffs

The family of a Lynnwood woman who was killed three years ago says they have been preyed upon by a private investigator.

Read more here.

New Products for DNA Analysis, Digital Imaging and More

New Products for DNA Analysis, Digital Imaging, Fighting Contamination, and More

PCR Buffer
The EzWay Direct PCR Buffer contains key additives that overcome the inhibitory effects in whole blood and commonly used blood anticoagulants. Compatible with most thermostable DNA polymerases, there is no pretreatment step or modification of your current PCR protocol necessary. EzWay Direct PCR Buffer eliminates risks of sample loss and is a cost effective alternative to DNA purification.
Komabiotech, www.komabiotech.com


Analysis of DNA Mixtures
A DNA Mixture analysis module has recently been added to the GeneMarkerHID Human Identity software. The software automatically identifies potential mixtures based upon specific parameters including number of alleles per marker and peak area or height ratios. The mixture analysis function is all combined in one user-friendly interface, eliminating the mistake-prone tedium of data transfer.
SoftGenetics, www.softgenetics.com


Digital Imaging for Forensic Investigations
The MacroVIEW D — composed of a touch screen computer, a fixed camera, and a mobile camera — is designed to capture and store digital images of bodies examined at autopsy or during forensic investigations. Users select from shape drawing tools, editable text tags, voice comments, and video files to annotate case images. Files are automatically collected and organized into case folders.
Milestone, www.milestonemed.com


Read more here.

Lawyer Sues Sheriff's Office, Private Investigation Continues

More than 48 hours after a missing woman's body is found a new development in the case. A spokesperson for her family, local attorney Andy Savage is suing the Charleston County Sheriff's Office.

Savage announced late on Monday that he is suing Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon and his department. Savage says one of his private investigators found the body of Katherine Waring on Wadamalaw Island this weekend.

We spoke with Savage this weekend, before the lawsuit and he was already critical of the police department.

"It's hard to swallow arrogance, as a citizen of this community. I don't think my investigators who solved the case were handled decently by the Charleston Police Department," Savage said.

He is suing for unspecified damages, the return of notes and other items taken from the private investigator  including his car.  The case goes to court on Tuesday. Meanwhile there are still more questions than answers in the case of Katherine Waring.

The Charleston Police Department are calling the case a death investigation and not a homicide investigation. Four months of agony ended Saturday for Laura Waring, her cousin. Kate Waring's skeleton was located in the Polly Pointe Subdivision on Wadmalaw Island She had been missing from Downtown Charleston since June 12.

Read more here.

Newspapers Allowed to Hire Private Investigators

Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C. can use a private investigator to look into security breaches, including the leak of an internal planning document to the committee representing the firm's unsecured creditors, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled yesterday.

Chief Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Raslavich agreed that the company could spend up to $25,000 to use SafirRosetti, a security firm, to investigate the leak and review the overall integrity of the company's protection of internal documents.

Anne Aaronson, the company's attorney, told Raslavich that SafirRosetti had already launched its investigation and had identified the employee responsible for the leak. She told reporters later that the company was still weighing what disciplinary action might be taken. She did not identify the employee.

The company sought permission to hire SafirRosetti after the Committee of Unsecured Creditors asked Raslavich to order the company to end its "Keep It Local!" campaign.

In its motion opposing the campaign, the unsecured creditors included a copy of an internal company planning document that outlined how the campaign would unfold.

The Committee of Unsecured Creditors opposed the company's request, arguing it represented an unneeded expense. If asked, committee attorney Ben Logan said, the committee would have said how it had gotten the planning document.

Read more here.

Team of 40 Private Investigators Bust Illegal Weapon Sales at Gun Shows

An undercover investigation funded by the City of New York found weapons were sold illegally at seven gun shows in three states — including at Bill Goodman’s Gun and Knife Show at Hara Arena — Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Wednesday, Oct. 7.

“The gun show loophole is a deadly serious problem — and this undercover operation exposes just how pervasive and serious it is,” Bloomberg said. “This is an issue that has nothing to do with the Second Amendment; it’s about keeping guns from criminals, plain and simple.”

The investigation was done by a team of 40 private investigators, who went to gun shows in Ohio, Tennessee and Nevada from May through August. Three of those shows were Bill Goodman’s: at Hara, in Sharonville and in Nashville.

Karen Wampler, spokeswoman for Hara Arena, suggested the Dayton Daily News call Dave Goodman, who runs the gun show. Goodman could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
“We rent to Dave Goodman’s Gun and Knife Show and have for many years,” Wampler said. “He has been very good about following the rules of the state of Ohio, from our perspective.”
The report generated by the investigation, Gun Show Undercover, is available on the city’s website, at http://www.nyc.gov/gunshow. Bloomberg said the city would be sending it to every member of Congress, and urged Congress to pass legislation closing the “gun-show loophole,” which gun control proponents say allows people to buy guns without a background check at the shows.

The National Rifle Association has long said there is no such thing as a “gun-show loophole” and that new legislation would be pointless, as most people who sell guns at the shows are licensed dealers, who are already required to do background checks.

The investigators went to the shows to see whether sellers would engage in two types of illegal transactions. The first involvesprivate sellers selling guns to people who they thought could not pass a federal background check. The investigators would offer to purchase a weapon, then tell the seller that they probably couldn’t pass a background check.

The second involves licensed dealers conducting illegal straw sales, which are sales made to accomplices posing as buyers in order to help the real buyer avoid a criminal background check. In those cases, a maleinvestigator played the role of a person who wanted to buy a gun but couldn’t, and a female investigator played the role of the “straw” buyer who would purchase it for him.

Read more here.

L.A. investigator pleads no contest to conspiracy in payoff of alleged rape victim

A private investigator who has worked for such high-profile criminal defendants as Michael Jackson and Winona Ryder pleaded no contest today to conspiracy to obstruct justice and bribery in connection with the payoff of an alleged rape victim, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney's office said.

Bradley G. Miller entered the open plea to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and three counts of bribing a witness in the courtroom of L.A. County Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito, court spokeswoman
Jane Robison said. The plea came during a pretrial hearing.

The charges stem from Miller's work for Alex Izquierdo, who was charged in 2006 with multiple counts of rape, torture, false imprisonment and other crimes for allegedly abusing his live-in girlfriend. She told police he had burned her with an iron, sodomized her and threatened to kill her.


Miller and two other men are accused of conspiring to take the woman to Las Vegas on the day in 2005 that she was to testify against Izquierdo, who faces life in prison if convicted.

"Mr. Miller wants to put this behind him," said Miller's attorney, Mark Wersksman. "This will allow him to get on with his life."

Attorney Mark Geragos, who represented Izquierdo, is not accused of involvement in the alleged conspiracy. Izquierdo's father, George Izquierdo, and Camilo Valentin were charged along with Miller in the bribery case, prosecutors said.

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School Mistakes Private Detectives as Police

JEFFERSON COUNTY - Sheriff's deputies say private investigators wearing discount store hats reading "CSI" had school staff convinced they were dealing with actual law enforcement officers.

The investigators-for-hire were looking for a missing child involved in a civil custody case. They say Shaffer Elementary School principal Gina Rivas was eager to help and never asked for identification.
"We told them right up front we were private investigators," said private eye John Sampson. "We never said we were police."

A custom-made badge on his belt and his CSI hat seemed to satisfy the principal, said Sampson, who owns CSI Consulting and Investigations.

Over the next few hours, Rivas would volunteer the name of a student she felt resembled the one on Sampson's missing child flyer, provide information about the girl and her family, and interview the girl about the custody case, said Sampson.

The student, 8-year-old Lilly Findley, had no connection to the missing child case. Sampson said the school did not call sheriff's deputies or the girl's parents until he insisted law enforcement get involved in the discussion.

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Canadian Reality TV Star's Family Hires Private Investigator to Clear Name

The family of a Canadian reality-TV performer accused of the sensational murder of his ex-wife has hired a private investigator in California in an attempt to dig up information that might clear the late Ryan Jenkins of the crime.
Jenkins' family is holding a private, invitation-only ceremony in Calgary on Thursday to commemorate the man who was the subject of an international manhunt -- and international media coverage -- after he was named the sole suspect in the strangling and mutilation of Jasmine Fiore before he fled to British Columbia.

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20 Year Old Case of Murdered Private Detective Starts Monday

THE murder trial of a private detective killed in one of Britain's most controversial unsolved cases is due to start this Monday.

Five people are due to stand trial at the Old Bailey in connection with killing of 37-year-old Daniel Morgan who was found dead with a hatchet buried in his head in the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham in March 1987.

Ex-Scotland Yard detective Sid Fillery, 61, is charged with perverting the course of justice.

James Cook, 53, of The Glade, Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, Garry Vian, 47, of no fixed abode, his brother Glenn Vian, 49, of 94 Orchard Road, South Croydon and Jonathon Rees, 53, of Village Close, Weybridge, Surrey are all charged with murder.

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Background Check Leads to Arrest in a 1976 Killing

It's the unexpected break investigators were hoping for. After 33-years on the run, a suspect in the disappearance of a Kirkwood woman is finally in custody in Georgia.

Authorities said the suspect, 65-year-old Johnny Wright, accidentally alerted them to his outstanding murder warrant when he asked for a background check for a new job. Police in Lawrenceville, Georgia do not think Wright realized what he was doing when he asked for that background check. They said he paid $15 to get arrested for the murder of Becky Doisy.

Doisy disappeared back in August of 1976. She was a Kirkwood native, granddaughter of a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, and a waitress at Ernie's Steak House in Columbia. Years of searching turned up no sign of her.

"We do feel that she's been murdered," said Harriett Doisy, on the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance in 1977.

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Mafia Engages in Cyber Crime

As if CSOs don't have enough on their plates, they now need to beat back made men, capos and the other elements of the Mafia. Yes, the Mafia is formally involved in cybercrime, or so alleges the U.S. attorney for Florida, who filed charges against associates of the Bonanno crime family that included pilfering data from Lexis-Nexis.

The Mafia engaging in cybercrime might sound like your grandmother joining Facebook. In fact, "the majority of data breaches are the result of organized crime," says Nick Holland, an analyst at Aite Group in Boston. That doesn't mean it's the conventional Mafia pulling the strings--though it can be. In fact, it's hard to tell just who is in control sometimes. For the most part, cybergroups that become notorious, like the Rockfish or the old Russian Business Network, do so because very few cybercrime groups publicize themselves, says Steve Santorelli of Team Cymru. (Cymru, pronounced cumri, is the Welsh word for Wales.)
In fact, observers sometimes disagree on just who's behind a crime. Take last year's RBS Worldpay scam, which saw hackers not only make off with 1.5 million records from the electronic payments processor, but make fake ATM cards used to withdraw more than $9 million in 49 cities around the world in a one-hour period. Frank Heidt, CEO of Leviathan Security in Seattle, thinks this was a case of an extremely well-organized group with roots in Russian organized crime. Peter Cassidy, director of research at Triarche Consulting Group in Cambridge, Mass., says it looks like a franchise-style operation in which the data and details on how and when to use it was sold to groups operating in different regions.

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Reasons why Internet Private Investigation is Taking Over the Online World

Why are internet private investigation services important now? It is because more and more people are putting all their information on the Internet.

People do not want to be left out of the modernization that is happening in the world today. So to become in tune with technology, they eagerly embraced the online world.

To be one with the online world, your information is needed so that it would be easy for other people to find you. Oftentimes, when conducting business online, you give out details that should have been kept private. When this happens, you are very much prone to those that can easily intercept all the information even before they reach the intended destination.

Before you know it, another person has gotten hold of your credit card and is using them for their own personal purpose. The worst thing that could happen is when your identity is stolen just because that person knows everything about you.

In answer to all these online crimes, Internet private investigation services opened their doors to counter wrong doers. These investigators have comprehensive knowledge about what people are capable of doing using the internet. Using every means of internet software and tools, they can track down illegal procedures immediately.

You can tell how effective these investigators are by the number of crimes and criminals that they have cornered on the internet. You may think that programs or other tools are the ones capturing these persons. What you may not know is that there are real people behind who is doing the job for you.

Most online businesses enlist the services of private investigators online to filter out the good from the bad. These businesses know that they are vulnerable to persons that want to take advantage of what they have. Since they cannot prevent people from accessing them online, the only way they can prevent unwanted things from happening is to have investigators check every detail about the online visitors.

One of the useful things that private investigators use in their internet service is computer forensics and public records available in online databases for general public. This is not like the forensics that is being done physically.

Expert technicians are the persons capable of looking out at computers. They look at the sources of documents and data storage systems. They make sure that the systems remain clean of hackers or unwanted and suspicious entries.

It is also their duty to track down where unwanted entries are coming from. When they have carefully investigated all the details, they report their findings directly to their clients. It is during this time that the business is able to figure out ways on how to solve these problems, change their system and bring the intruder to justice.

Internet private investigators are not only limited to crimes that are going around the internet. They do simple things like recovering of files. They are trained well in this field also. Part of their job is to maintain the smooth sailing operation of the online business.

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Security System Brings Big Brother to Life

Researchers are looking to develop an intelligent image system that can monitor large areas, perhaps miles wide,  identify potential threats based on the correlation of events and anomalies it detects, and issue timely alerts with few false alarms. 
Such a surveillance system is at the heart of what researchers at the  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency calls a Persistent Stare Exploitation and Analysis System (PerSEAS) that can automatically and interactively discover intelligence from optical or infra-red devices in the air on drones, for example, or spread over urban, suburban, and rural environments.
DARPA said it envisions two major applications for such a system.  Perhaps most important,  the first would use the system in a near real-time mode to receive alerts and warnings to react to and avert disasters. For example, if it notices a number of activities that were out of the usual, such as the gathering of lots of soldiers and trucks it could alert local authorities.
The second would be to use the data gathered from the system to use archived data from the system to analyze events, such as an attack to determine the movements and origins of the entities involved in the event, DARPA said.   For both types of applications DARPA said the PerSEAS system ideally could receive or generate cues from/to other sensor systems to identify places or people of interest for additional details.
Overall the challenge is to identify potential threats based on the accumulation and correlation of multiple events and anomalies, and issue alerts so military folks in the field can take quick action or other officials can alert the public of problems, DARPA said.
Specifically the PerSEAS system will gather data from sensors and feed the data into an intelligent software engine supporting algorithms that discover relationships and anomalies that are indicative of suspicious behavior, match previously learned threat activity, or match user defined threat activity should also be incorporated, DARPA stated.

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Obama Stands Behind ‘State Secrets’ in Spy Case

SAN FRANCISCO – Hours after the Justice Department announced it would limit its use of the state secrets privilege in new cases, the administration appeared before a federal judge here Wednesday and continued to invoke that defense in a closely watched spy case.

The litigation at issue, now five years old, tests whether a sitting president may bypass Congress and adopt a warrantless surveillance program, as President Bush did in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks.

“We need to protect information concerning the manner and methods by which we seek to detect and prevent a terrorist attack,” Justice Department special counsel Anthony Coppolino said Wednesday while arguing to a federal judge to dismiss the case on the basis of state secrets.

The 5-year-old case, having a tortured procedural history, is the furthest along in challenging the Bush administration’s warrantless Terror Surveillance Program.

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Iphone App Acts as Personal Private Investigator

In less time than it takes to share a drink, a new iPhone application can tell you whether your date is a dream boat or a dirt bag.

On Tuesday Intelius, a Bellevue-based company, launched Date Check, a mobile application that acts like the user's own private eye.

All you need to enter is your date's name, e-mail or phone number, and the application, which cross-references public records, lets you know if your date is really who you think he or she is.

"You can find out all kinds of things, from drug possession to DUI, to sexual assault and battery, to sexual offenders," said Sue Koehler Intelius' chief marketing officer. "Some things aren't serious, but some things are very serious things you should be aware of."

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Missing Persons Group Celebrates 15 Years of Service

Wilmington, N.C. – While it’s the CUE Center’s birthday, the all-volunteer missing person’s organization is giving a gift at a celebration this Saturday to mark the group’s 15th year of service working on the behalf of missing persons nationwide.

Monica Caison became a tireless advocate for the missing after being exposed to the families of missing persons at least three times before she was 25 years old. In 1994, she singlehandedly started the non-profit Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons from a tiny back yard shed and a mere $76.00 dollars in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Now, the non-profit group, which is entirely funded by donations, has hundred’s of volunteers aiding the centers mission and receives calls for help from across the nation. CUE Center is proud of their all-volunteer network made up of more than 8,000 people and professional search groups — all of whom share the same goals: to find the missing, to advocate for their causes, and to support their families through what is often the most confusing and desperate times of their lives.

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Learn to Make a Home Surveillance System

Make a Surveillance Video Camera at Home
A video surveillance camera is something which you should have in your home, if you want to beef up your home security. Video surveillance camera’s are great if you want to keep an eye on your home, car, children, other belongings etc. No matter what you need the camera for, its always going to prove itself useful. However getting a video surveillance camera in today’s world is going to put a big dent in your pocket. Even if you purchased it from a web store, you would still have to pay for installation anyway. So keep reading if you want to know how to make your very own surveillance system to check on your belongings and may be neighbors as well !

Buying a surveillance system that is very basic in nature will cost you around $300 or more. Frankly speaking, that’s too much for a home security system, but this is what most electronic stores will charge you. However, you might not be aware that you can still make a home surveillance system by the help of a webcam or webcam capable digicam or camcorder.


There are number of benefits of doing this. First of all, you might already possess a webcam that is not in use and lying around your house. If not then you can easily purchase it, since they are cheap to purchase. Say around 50$ or more, but its still less in comparison to the $300 that you would spend on the home video surveillance camera. Secondly, webcams are not very noticeable, so not many people would look at them. This would allow us to watch all the action happening outside, without the knowledge of the person standing in front of the door.

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Canadian Private Schools Hire Private Investigators to Check Parents

Several Vancouver private schools are screening applicants to determine if their families are linked to gangs and pose a risk to students and staff.

``We have recently been engaged by private schools in the Vancouver area to conduct due diligence on the families of prospective students,'' Kim Marsh, managing director of private investigation firm IPSA International, confirmed to the Vancouver Province.

Marsh, a former RCMP inspector who headed a police organized-crime unit, won't identify the schools, for privacy reasons, but he acknowledged ``it's fair to say'' his business has increased following the shooting of West Point Grey Academy parent Betty Yan, in April.

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Casey Anthony Case Turns to Private Investigator

Attorneys for a Central Florida woman suing murder suspect Casey Anthony for defamation continued to fight Wednesday to question a private investigator involved in the case.

Dominic Casey said the information he may have is confidential since he was working for Casey Anthony, her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, and her defense attorney. He testified Wednesday he entered into contracts with the family and the defense team in July 27, 2008, 12 days after Casey Anthony's daughter, Caylee, was reported missing.

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NY Times Leaks Kennedy's Book, Publisher Hires Private Investigator

All hell broke loose at the Hachette Book Group building last week when The New York Times published a story detailing some of the most newsworthy bits contained in the late Ted Kennedy’s forthcoming memoir, True Compass. A spokeswoman for the paper said Times reporters had purchased multiple copies of the book at a bookstore the day before, and, much to the chagrin of Twelve publisher Jonathan Karp and his publicity director, Cary Goldstein, quickly broke the strict embargo that the imprint had tried to impose on it. The trouble was, of course, that the $8 million memoir wouldn’t be hitting stores for another 11 days, and all the publicity generated by the Times piece—not to mention the glowing review by Michiko Kakutani that ran the following day—was likely to confuse and frustrate customers who went looking for it in the meantime.

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Lindsay Lohan Hires Private Investigator

Lindsay Lohan's house has been burgled.

The 'Mean Girls' star returned to her home in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills to find it ransacked.

The 23-year-old star's mother Dina said: “The safe was ripped out of the wall, and the door was off the hinges and door handles removed. Bags, Lindsay's father Michael is convinced the burglary was an "inside job" and has hired a private investigator

to look into the case.

He said: "I’m sick of people bugging my daughter and using her. This is not the first time she’s been robbed. I’m working with the police but at the same time, I have my own people.

"I’ve hired private investigators

and I’m going to work my own investigation and find out who did this. Lindsay is not OK. She’s very upset and feels extremely violated.shoes and jewellery were taken too.


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