In stories where people retain private investigators, you can expect a basic level of intrigue. Subjects in a private investigator’s sights are typically unaware that they are being followed, and everyone knows that individuals behave most naturally when they don’t know they are being watched. However, sometimes private investigators uncover incredible, life-changing information for their clients. There are many threads on the internet detailing the craziest private investigator stories ever told. Here is just a sampling of private investigator stories that took an unexpected left turn.
Stepping Out?
In this case, the client was a son who believed his stepdad was committing infidelity against his mother. He got in contact with a private investigator who engaged in typical surveillance methods for mapping a subject’s movements. A GPS tracker was placed on his vehicle and the private investigator tracked the stepfather to the site of a house that he had recently purchased for himself and the mother. He had been restoring it for them to live in and planned to give it to her as a 5-year anniversary present.
Seeing Double
In an example of poor due-diligence, one private investigator managed to undo his client’s entire defense when he followed the wrong subject for the course of an investigation. In this case, the client was an employer who had a reasonable suspicion that one of his employees was committing worker’s compensation fraud. The private investigator conducted a background investigation on the subject and began following him in his day to day life to document his injuries. The private investigator had concluded the employee was faking his injuries, and had photographs of him operating heavy equipment to prove it. When the employer handed the case over to the lawyers, the lawyers were horrified to find out that the private investigator had been following the defendant’s brother instead. The employee’s injuries were real, and the client was left with egg on his face.
All in the Family
Sometimes private investigators can uncover wild family secrets that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. In this case, the client wanted an explanation for her father’s numerous extended absences throughout their childhoods. He claimed that his job required him to follow FedEx trucks around the country in order to prevent drug and human trafficking. The client, his daughter, retained a private investigator to follow her father on his alleged work trips and report back. It turned out that the father had not one, but three different wives around the state, some of whom also had other children from previous marriages. When the private investigator presented his final report to his client, she broke the news to her mother, who immediately cut the father off completely from the family. The report was then forwarded to his other wives.
From Worker’s Comp to Extramarital Romp
Retaining private investigators for worker compensation investigations is a great way to exercise independent due-diligence when trying to make a case. It’s hyper common for employers to hire them to ensure that their employees’ worker compensation claims are in fact truthful. Sometimes a private investigator will uncover an extra piece of information that will make the case all the better for their client. In this case, the client was an employee who had a believed a worker’s compensation claim to be in bad faith. He hired a private investigator to follow the employee who was allegedly hurt to document the difficulty he claimed his injuries brought him. While conducting field surveillance, the private investigator discovered that not only did the subject fake his injuries, but he also managed to capture photographs of him with a woman who was not his wife. The private investigator presented his final report to the client and the employee dropped the claim.
Finding Roots
Hiring a private investigators to find someone, or perform a “skip-trace,” is hyper-common. Private investigators have access to verified databases as part of their licensure. They can look up people who have fallen out of connection with their client for years and help facilitate some form of reunification. In this case, a private investigator was retained by the client to find his estranged mother. The client had not seen his mother in some years due to her struggles with drugs and alcohol. He was not sure if she were dead or alive, but if she were living, the client wanted to tell his mother that he was happy, healthy, and that he forgave her for leaving him. The private investigator ran an extra report on the subjects in question for free, which led to the discovery of a lead. The client and his mother were reunited in only a few short weeks, and he discovered that she had been clean and sober for seven years and was leading a very happy life.
If you have need of a private investigator, call Lauth Investigations International today for a free quote on your investigative needs. Call 317-951-1100 or visit us online.