Pellicano Calls Himself 'a Lone Ranger'

Anthony Pellicano was "technically a lone ranger" who went to great lengths as a private investigator to keep the information he gathered secret from everybody, including associates and lawyers.

And that information would have remained secret had the government not searched and seized computers from Pellicano's Sunset Boulevard office in 2002, the former gumshoe told a federal jury during closing arguments.

Argentieri Family Hires Private Investigator

The family of an Alfred University student who died five months ago has hired a private investigator, according to Allegany County District Attorney Terrence Parker.

Parker said he met with a private investigator the family of Thomas O. Argentieri Jr. hired on Tuesday to discuss the case. He was unavailable to discuss the case further by press time today, as he was in court this morning for an unrelated matter.

Four on Detective Murder Charge

Four men have been charged with the murder of a private investigator who was found with an axe in his head in a London pub car park 21 years ago.

Daniel Morgan, 37, from Monmouthshire, was found dead in Sydenham in 1987.

William John Rees, 53, and James Cook, 53, both from Surrey; Garry Vian, 47, of no fixed address, and Glen Vian, 49, of South Croydon are due in court.

Investigator: Someone Knows Where Becky Is

A private investigator has joined the search for Bekime Elshani.

Elshani is the Colorado Springs woman who's been missing since March 29th . Her boyfriend, Daniel Dereere, shot and killed himself March 31st, with Colorado Springs Police Officers outside his apartment.

District Must Explain Object in the Ceiling

Everett School District officials can and should put to rest any lingering controversy over the Kay Powers case. It may be as simple as answering one question:

What was the cone-shaped object that several teachers report seeing in the ceiling of Powers' classroom last spring?

Recent PI Raids on Counterfeiters Raise Concerns About Fakes

In bright orange letters, the sign in the window says "Yes We're Open."

But take a look at the black gate and lock that stretches across the front of Shoes N More at 2903 W. Western Ave., and you'll see a different story.

Recovery Service Agents See More Business

Brian Turley pulled a tow truck into a Reno supermarket parking lot, leaped out of his cab, hooked a silver SUV to the tow arm and lifted its wheels off the asphalt.

"Seven seconds and it's mine," said Turley, who then went into the store to tell a woman her car had been repossessed.

PI May be Hired in AIA Case

A private investigator might probe Arizona's high school athletic programs for alleged recruiting violations and other suspected improprieties.

It just doesn't seem right, but the current ultracompetitive high school athletic climate might need another resource to keep those involved in high school athletics from breaking the rules.

A PI and Web Designers Help Find Missing Persons

Carl A. Bartol, a licensed private investigator and founder of the Prevent Delinquency Project recently teamed up with two of the Internet's top blog designers in the quest to find missing children and adults.

Each year more than 800,000 children and countless adults are reported missing in the United States. Technorati, an Internet-based search engine estimates that approximately 125,000 new bloggers come online each day. This amounts to millions of blogs and posts every year. In thinking outside the box of ways to aid in the search for missing children and adults, Bartol and his Prevent Delinquency Project (http://www.preventdelinquency.org) teamed up with two of the web's top designers, Ophelia Nicholson (http://www.ophelianicholson.com), and Linda Jackson (http://www.wpskins.org), to develop WordPress blog themes specifically designed to help locate lost loved ones. To their credit, they have completed two such themes to date and more are on the horizon.

Investigator Chosen for Gomsi Case

An attorney and private investigator who recently retired as an Irvine police lieutenant will conduct the investigation into alleged misconduct by the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District's top manager.

Private Eyes Probing Children's Theatre Case

An "administrative investigation" involving private investigators separate from an ongoing criminal probe by police detectives has been launched into the actions of three Palo Alto Children's Theatre employees who are on paid suspensions pending the outcome of the investigations.

Investigator to Examine Cops' Actions With Madrid

The La Mesa city manager hired an investigator yesterday to determine whether police officers followed regulations when they gave Mayor Art Madrid and a city employee a ride to the mayor's home when both were apparently intoxicated.

Private Investigator Jay J. Armes Raises Questions About Young Woman's Death

The death of a young woman whose body was found in the desert earlier this year has raised questions about what happened the night she went missing in 2005.

Signs indicate that 21-year-old Alondra Rodriguez was suicidal when she left home but two months since the discovery of her body east of El Paso there are suspicions her death may have been a homicide.

Private Detective Probes Case From Outer Space

Private eye T.K. Davis has worked his share of oddball cases. Once, he tracked down a one-armed woman wanted for child endangerment. He staked out a backyard to catch a guy throwing dirt clods into a pool. When you make your living answering life's mysterious questions at $100 an hour, you take a few calls out of the blue.

Thieving Little Britains

A leading UK Private Investigator has found that more than three quarters of workers have stolen from their current or previous places of work. The figures show that potentially over £432m of company goods, including laptops, confidential personal data, TVs, and even an office pet in one case are stolen in the UK each year. It is also clear that very few measures are in place across companies to prevent theft from happening.

Private Investigators Probe Payroll Scam

Private investigators have been hired to conduct an internal investigation at Waukegan High School, following the arrest of two security guards in January for alleged pay irregularities.

The three investigators from Naperville-based Probe International are conducting interviews at the high school and checking documents and payroll records, according to Thomas Morris, legal counsel for Waukegan Public Schools.

Sex, Lies & Surveillance

Damien Delzoppo of Avenue Investigations says he was playing a clean game — "well within the limits of the law" — during an episode that ended with one Melbourne contractor blackmailing a rival into pulling out of the tendering for a local council job.

It seems that the rival — owner of a construction business, 20 to 30 workers — had been winning council jobs left and right. He was significantly undercutting everybody else. It was a mystery.

It didn't take long to find out the guy was having an affair with his materials supplier. She was selling him the materials cheap.

Trial Begins for Hollywood Private Investigator

Jury selection began Wednesday for the federal trial of private investigator Anthony Pellicano and four co-defendants, charged in a wiretapping case that prosecutors said targeted Hollywood celebrities and others.

Pellicano, 63, is accused of running a criminal enterprise that wiretapped phones and bribed police and telephone workers to get confidential information that could be used to gain an advantage in divorce, business and other cases.

Fraud Scene Investigator

People don’t normally try to kill you for doing their taxes, but forensic accounting is a whole different ball game.

One morning a few years ago, forensic accountant Al Vondra was driving to work on Cleveland's Interstate 77 as he always did. But this day was different. As he was driving, all four tires on his Buick LeSabre suddenly exploded. The gas tank hit the ground at 65 miles per hour, and the car came to a grinding halt. Fortunately, nothing exploded, and Vondra was able to get to the side of the road and wait for the police.

Residency Investigator Reports to Board

Reynoldsburg City Schools' residency investigator Pete Riddle reported on students illegally attending local schools at the board of education's Tuesday night meeting at Waggoner Road Junior High.

Superintendent Steve Dackin said he received a call recently from a resident who asked what the district does and is doing to ensure that students attending local schools actually live within the district.

Valentine's Day Kept Private Investigators Busy Busting Cheaters

While many people are looking for love, private investigators look at the lovers themselves and try to catch cheaters in the act. The industry actually calls Valentine's Day the start of "cheating season."

Grossi Hires Investigators to Search for Daughter's Killer

The father of a murdered Sussex County woman has hired a private investigation company which he hopes will be able to look for information where the state police cannot.

Francis Grossi says his decision is not a reflection on the police. His daughter Paula was shot execution-style in her Stable Farm home near Rehoboth Beach in January 2007. There have been no arrests.

Supreme Court Referee: Hurley Didn’t Break Ethics Rules

A prominent defense attorney did nothing wrong when he tricked a boy out of his laptop computer to gather evidence, a state Supreme Court referee said Tuesday.

Stephen Hurley reasonably chose to use a ruse to get potentially exculpatory evidence, referee Judith Sperling-Newton wrote, noting that Wisconsin’s rules prohibiting lawyers from engaging in dishonesty and fraud are vague.

Private Investigator Volunteers to Help Find Jaliek Rainwalker

“A lot of people are thinking, having different thoughts about what's going on in the case and we just want to be able to look into every single avenue,” said Jamie Richardson, a private investigator who can't show his face on camera.

Al-Qaida Website was Hosted in Phoenix

A Web site used by al-Qaida to recruit car bombers, encourage war on the West and provide a forum for Islamic militants went online from Phoenix this week.

The incident reflects a recent push by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups to spread their message, often using Internet hosts in the United States. Although private companies can refuse to host any Web site, they often do little to monitor their sites' content.