When faced with thoughts of the loss of a loved one, we’d all hope that their cause of death would be fully understood and investigated if the need ever arose. It is the role of the Coroner or Medical Examiner’s office—and potentially law enforcement, too—to uncover the facts when the manner of a death is not immediately apparent. But what can the bereaved do if their gut tells them that the facts haven’t been illuminated? In these unwelcome situations, a suspicious death investigator can be the ally required to turn the search lights back on, and reveal what remains unseen.
A death investigation is a vital process, because what appears to be apparent suicide may in fact be a natural death, and what appears to be unsuspicious may actually be criminal. For those left behind, a lingering question mark can be a brutal burden to bear. Survivors can raise and pursue their concerns with the authorities and will hopefully get authentic answers quickly, but a private investigator with extensive experience in conducting death investigations provides opportunity for those who feel powerless to reclaim some control over the journey of loss.
The Navigation of a Death Investigation
When someone dies under suspicious or simply obscure circumstances, it’s vital to know that the jurisdiction of the coroner begins before they are even alerted. It is essential that concerned parties engage in following the letter of the law—as knowingly failing to notify the coroner or enforcement agency of a death that later warrants an investigation is a punishable infraction. However, while those tasked with the investigation carry out their work, turning to other sources of support and initiating an independent suspicious death investigation is a ready option to anyone feeling let down by the usual channels.
All too often, misidentified or unresolved cases of accident, wrongful death, suicide, or homicide are left languishing in a pile of papers as family and friends remain stuck in limbo. When the coroner’s verdict doesn’t sit right or the police fall short on the resources necessary to find the truths you seek, it is reassuring to know that a private investigator’s duty is to you above all else—they only stop digging when you tell them to, and they’ll enlist every investigative resource in their toolkit to uncover new leads and gather fresh evidence.
How a Private Investigator Takes Action in a Death Investigation
The role of a private investigator and the police in the case of suspicious death investigations is different in some ways, however in others it is very much aligned. Licenced private investigators have access to many of the same resources and information databases that law enforcement do. Meanwhile, in certain instances, their capacity extends further—as they follow trails of evidence over state lines where police jurisdiction might end, or continue to comb for leads when the authorities’ resources would be pulled towards other cases.
At times, private investigators may work alongside or collaborate with the authorities, doubling down on the effort to bring the facts to light. At others, they pick up where a traditional investigation left off, ensuring that loved ones achieve the sense of justice and truth that they deserve. Armed with forensic skills, surveillance tools, honed interpersonal expertise, and the capacity to perform background checks—among an array of other resources—the PI often finds crucial threads to pull upon that the coroner or police missed.
Suspicious death investigators from Lauth Investigations International draw on more than 30 years experience in a broad array of investigatory capacities, including finding missing persons, resolving unsolved homicides, and revealing concealed crimes. We understand fully the impact that these types of cases can have on those whose life they touch, and approach every case with compassion and dedication. If your instincts are telling you that all is not right and you would like assistance in a death investigation, our impassioned team of private investigators is here to help. You can connect with us at any time for a no-obligation consultation, so reach out today and discover more about how we can serve you in this difficult time.
Wondering how to protect valuables from would-be thieves and robbers? Trade in stolen art and jewelry is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide, so it makes sense to take steps to protect your assets. Here at Lauth Investigations International, we are dedicated not only to tracking and recovering stolen precious goods, but also advising diligent owners on how to protect valuables against external threats in the first place. Read on to discover our top tips for keeping the thieves away from your door.
1. Identify the High Value Items That You Need to Protect
Far too many owners of heirloom artworks, jewelry, and other high value assets don’t recognize the desirability of their treasures until they’ve been taken. Stay ahead of those who might target you with awareness of what needs to be safeguarded. Precious items might include paintings, sculptures, jewelry, watches, rugs, silverware, instruments, antique china or crystal, furs, firearms, and other collectibles. Knowing how to protect valuables starts with knowing where and what they are, and how much they are worth.
2. Review and Update Your Insurance Coverage
High-value items require specific insurance coverage that will likely exceed the limits of your homeowner insurance policy. Ahead of purchasing scheduled personal property coverage, we recommend meeting with your insurance advisor directly to identify policy vulnerabilities. Keep in mind that the value of assets like art and jewelry can go up and down over time. This makes it essential to track market values or have your items reappraised periodically to ensure that your policies always represent their true value.
3. Document Your Art and Jewelry
When a precious item is stolen, time is of the essence and having all the information on hand is vital if pursuit of the perpetrators is to be successful. Take detailed photos of your valuables, and detail all identifying features. Scan all documentation, including purchase receipts, provenance paperwork, and appraisals. Securely store the originals separately from the items themselves, and the digital versions using a cloud-based service. You can also consider using a purpose-built database to catalog your collection, like interpol’s Art-ID app.
4. Install Sophisticated Security Systems
When it comes to how to protect valuables, it’s key to understand that they are only as secure as the location where they are stored. High-value jewelry is far more vulnerable in a jewelry box or nightstand than it would be in a safe or safe deposit box. Equally, art work on the wall of a home with a state-of-the-art intruder alert system and CCTV cameras will be far safer than that in a home that would be easy to enter undetected. Artworks themselves can be fitted with alarms, too. Your insurance company may reduce your rate in reflection of this added protection.
5. Use Tracking Technology
While art collectors have long been concealing identifying markers on their most precious assets, these days the advent of miniature technology means that we can go further. Paintings, sculptures, and even jewelry cases can be fitted with tiny GPS tracking devices with batteries that last for years. These diminutive gadgets mean that if your art or jewelry goes astray, it won’t get far.
6. Perform Background Checks
How well do you really know your staff? From housekeepers to contractors, those we trust to enter our homes don’t always have the best intentions. On how to protect valuables, one of the most powerful tactics that we recommend is to subject every hire to our comprehensive background check service. This will illuminate anything nefarious in their past that might make you think twice about letting them near your beloved valuables.
7. Seek Tailored Advice Through a Risk and Security Assessment
You hope you’ve thought of everything to thwart potential thieves, but there may still be holes in your well-intended defenses. Our dedicated team of art and jewelry theft investigators are expertly poised to analyze your security measures and identify gaps that need to be closed. For total peace of mind, turn to Lauth Investigations International for guidance on how to protect valuables from every angle. Our team is always here to help, and only a call or message away.
Historically, it’s been a challenge to prevent art theft even when the security of the most famous creations in the world hung in the balance. When Vincent van Gogh’s painting of poppy flowers was stolen in 1977, right out of the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Egypt, nobody could have imagined that it would be recovered in Kuwait a decade later, and then stolen once again from it’s Cairo home in 2010.
The mind marvels in a similar way at the failure to prevent jewelry theft by the infamous Pink Panther gang, who have made off with roughly $US1 billion in sparkling European treasures over the course of the last four decades.
But technology is finally catching up with these bad actors, making it more difficult than ever for them to traffic their loot and evade capture. Only last year, Interpol caught up with and arrested Pink Panther gang members in Spain, ensuring a sigh of relief among jewelry dealers across the continent.
But the advent of new tech doesn’t just mean greater capability in tracking and locating stolen goods and perpetrators. It also means far greater capacity to protect our most prized and valuable assets in the first place. Check out this exciting tech, accessible to collectors everywhere, and created to prevent art theft and jewelry theft for good.Collectors Prevent Jewelry Theft and Art Theft with Tiny Tracking Devices These days, a heist like the one carried out in Cairo—twice—would be a far riskier endeavor for the criminals thanks to the introduction of cutting-edge tracking devices, designed to be used to tag a broad range of valuables.
These minuscule gadgets are so small that they can be hidden permanently in paintings and sculptures to prevent art theft, or inserted invisibly into cases to prevent jewelry theft. Thanks to discreet design, potential thieves are none the wiser. Although, as word gets out that there’s no clean getaway with precious one-of-a-kind assets of this nature, even the most determined racketeers pause for thought.
So how do these tiny trackers work, exactly? Costing only a tiny fraction of the value of the incredible creations they have been designed to protect, tracking devices work either using GPS location or long-range, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)—or a combination of the two. This tech innovation means that masterpieces can not only be tracked in realtime, but that collectors, museums, and gallery owners can establish user defined perimeters and set up automatic alerts, either to themselves or the police, if the art or jewelry in question crosses over their threshold. Clever tech indeed.
It’s Never Been Easier to Prevent Jewelry Theft and Art Theft—or Catch the Criminals at Large
This exciting evolution in the effort to prevent art theft and safeguard our most precious jewels is only a small part of a much larger expansion of protective possibility. Improved home security systems and the advent of INTERPOL’s Stolen Works of Art database are also contributing to shrinking the prospects of potential thieves.
Even the smartphones of criminals themselves are working against them, as geolocation data is pulled from images taken to sell art and jewelry online, and police or private investigators track them down when they thought they’d got away clean.
Are you doing all you can to prevent jewelry theft and art theft? Your most prized assets represent not only significant monetary value, but sentimental value too. Skilled and specialized private investigators from Lauth Investigations International are always on hand to provide comprehensive risk and security assessments. We can identify vulnerabilities and help you close the door to criminals who might otherwise target your possessions. And of course, should the worst have already occurred, our team of investigative trackers are ready to locate and return your items. Whatever your concerns, reach out to our team today for no-commitment insight into how we can assist.
Think the humble employee background check is an unnecessary expense? Think again. Because there’s nothing like a spate of bad hires to leave a gaping hole in the finances of your business. With research placing the average cost of a single bad recruitment choice anywhere from $17,000 to $240,000, every organization should have weeding out flaws in their HR department’s strategy high on the agenda.
Poor recruitment practices can be a drain on morale and company culture, wasting time and money and placing a heavy burden on the shoulders of those forced to take up the slack. So what can Human Resources do to mitigate this potential disaster? From background screening to watching for red flags, today we’ll dive into how your HR team can streamline their recruitment process and protect your bottom line
The Warning Signs of a Recruit You’ll Regret
A great candidate CV has landed on the desk of your top HR manager, and they’re excited at the prospect of having this individual on board. All the desired competencies and experiences appear to be in place, but there’s no escaping the fact that a CV can be doctored to hide a disastrous history or terrible work ethic.
In support of background screening—which we’ll come back to later—the interview process provides a key opportunity to observe candidates and be on the look out for obvious red flags such as showing up late or poor presentation, but you can leverage this time together even more effectively. Be sure to question candidates thoroughly on the contents of their credentials, experience record, and application to ensure that every detail adds up.
Make Sure the Right Cards Are on the Table
You’ve ensured that the job description posted fully reflects the position offered and that the candidate comprehends every aspect of the role. Now is the time to lay all the pertinent cards on the table, letting them know your expectations and making sure that you understand theirs.
This can include going over the standards that you require from employees—in terms of conduct, responsibilities, team engagement, and appearance—and ensuring that they intend to be with you for the long haul. Far too many employers invest substantially in new recruits, not realizing that they only view the position as a stepping stone. There can be no mincing words when ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
Turn to a Trusted Investigations Firm for Comprehensive Background Screening
Any savvy recruiter understands the importance of verifying references and credentials when hiring a new team member. Unfortunately, bad actors in the recruit pool may go to great lengths to deceive, faking vital certifications or enlisting the help of nefarious friends to provide false references.
Your HR team may do their best to conduct a thorough employee background check, but only a licenced investigative firm like Lauth Investigations International will be able to run your potential recruits against the same databases used by law enforcement agencies, or check storied histories that require gathering information across state lines.
When it comes to weeding out bad recruitment, anything less than comprehensive background checks carried out by licenced investigators is a risk that could mean trouble in the making. If you’d like to learn more about how we can support your business in its strides towards greater prosperity, contact our team today.
There are a broad range of personal investigations that might warrant the assistance of a skilled private investigator. From missing persons through to private thefts or even cheating spouses, suspicions lead trusted PIs to head out into the field every day to discreetly and diligently gather the facts.
Whatever the nature of the private investigations called for, two things are certain. The first is that the chosen investigator should be selected on the basis of their credentials. The second is that there isn’t a moment to lose. Time is of the essence, so let’s explore exactly what you need to know in order to kick-start a process that will lead to results.
Don’t Wait to take Action
Whether there’s a threat made to your person or property, or you suspect wrongdoing has already taken place, the sooner you set personal investigations in motion, the less likely it will be that vital clues or witnesses vanish and physical or digital trails go cold.
Happily, a reputable and recommended private investigations firm will be happy to provide commitment-free insight into things like whether action should be taken immediately and if you should contact law enforcement. As experts in navigating the full-spectrum of issues that private persons may be faced with, they will be able to highlight the best possible course, before guiding you on things like evidence preservation and contingency steps.
Choosing the Right Private Investigator
A solid recommendation from someone you know you can trust is a great place to start when selecting your collaborator, but don’t hesitate to confirm the credentials of any private investigations firm that you aim to contract. They should be able to demonstrate their track records and confirm their licencing without hesitation.
Opting for a large, long established firm is also a safer strategy than hiring a solo PI or a firm that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Beyond anything else, the critical licensure of your investigatory team will be what grants them access to the same databases used by law enforcement, so this is not an area in which to cut corners.
A Reputable Private Investigator Will Guide You Every Step of the Way
During your initial personal investigations consultation, the contracting PI will walk you through gathering all of the background information they need to get started and developing a working plan of attack. From there, they will be able to begin conducting any necessary surveillance or covert operations, gathering documented evidence and things like CCTV footage, conducting interviews, and building a body of data that will allow you to take action accordingly.
Once a conclusion has been drawn in your private investigations, you will be able to decide what remedial actions are necessary. At this juncture, a seasoned private investigator will be able to liaise with your legal council, respective authorities, and law enforcement on your behalf. They can also advise on how you can mitigate similar threats in the future.
Ultimately, the expertise of a reputable private investigator is a high-caliber resource that can be harnessed to protect your best interests in a diversity of different ways. If you’d like to learn more about how the Personal and Private Client Services provided by Lauth Investigations International, we are always happy to advise. With more than 30 years experience and more than 10,000 cases solved and solutions found, we have just the expertise you need for total peace of mind. Get in touch today.
