Selfish

In the world of divorce or broken relationships one thing is forever prevalent. Greed. Well let me retract, maybe not all of the time, but definitely more often than not. Private investigators are utilized a lot in custody cases specifically. The scenarios can vary, they can go from investigating allegations of abused time and neglect, allegations of one of the parents not working, allegations that the other parents significant other is not good or fit to be around the kids...etc. Or it can boil down to just being greedy and not wanting to share time with the other parent for personal reasons.

One day our offices were retained by an attorney client to assist in locating a woman who had taken of with her and the client's child. The client had been trying to see his child for the past year and every time he got close the woman would take off and her family would help in hiding her. Normally we are skeptical with these cases due to the amount of abuse and stalking that is going on in the world, however we conducted a background investigation on the client and found nothing that would indicate that abuse had occurred. After taking down the information that the client had provided to his attorney we set out to locate the woman and her daughter. Database searches were not able to pull up any new information. We utilized pretext calls to no avail. Finally after continuing to hit brick wall after brick wall our we decided to locate the woman's Mother. Most Mom's know where their kids are living. We sat on the Mother's residence for a couple of days and finally the woman and her child showed up. We quickly took a photograph of the woman and the child. The woman left the child and we followed her to her place of employment. We were able to determine what time her shift would end and came back at the end of the shift time. The woman was followed back to her Mother's residence and then after picking up the child, to her residence. The following morning we reported our findings back to our client. The client decided that they would like for our investigators to serve papers on the woman to initiate reunification and custodial time. 

A couple days later we went to the woman's residence and knocked, we heard noises in the residence and even heard the t.v. volume get turned down, but no one responded to our inquiry. We decided that we would attempt service at the woman's place of employment since she obviously was not opening the door or attempting to interact with anyone. The following morning our investigator waited for the woman to show up at work, when she did we served papers on her and even took a photograph since the woman was refusing service. We filed the paperwork with the court, including the picture, and the woman never showed up. The judge issued orders for a slow reunification, my client would be able to see his daughter every Saturday for eight hours, this would take place for about a month and half and then the time would get extended. The only problem was that these new orders needed to get served on the defendant, our offices attempted services again and the woman was no longer living at her residence, we went to her job and found out that she had quit her job as well. One of the employees feeling empathy to my client's situation advised that the woman moved out of state down south. We reported this back to the client's attorney and the attorney decided to sit on the case and wait a while. 

The following year our offices were contacted and we were requested to locate the woman as the client heard that she was being seen around town. Taking a short cut from our prior experience we waited at her Mother's house and sure enough she showed up. We again attempted to serve her but she denied the paperwork, this time we not only took photographs but also recorded the attempt. Our investigator had to go to court and give testimony and show supportive evidence, the judge found the woman in contempt of court but unfortunately she did not want to involve law enforcement as she felt that this would have a negative impact on the child. I guess the other negative impact, the child growing up without a father was not as serious or at least not considered to be as serious.  

Another year goes by, our offices are contacted by the client directly, he tells us that he knows where his child is going to school and he needs the woman served again, this time the judge was putting orders for full custody for my client due to the woman's blatant disregard for the system. We again waited around and finally got the paperwork to the woman for the third time. This time the woman accepted the paperwork, she even asked for our client's phone number which was in the documents. A funny and amazing thing happened after that. The woman called my client and arranged for him to see his child. After that day the client and his child have grown closer and he has been able to be a part of the child's life. We recently received a photograph of the client with his child. 

We don't know why this woman kept her child's father from being a part of the child's life, we don't know what prompted the woman to change her mind. But we do know that the look in the child's face and the look in our client's eye tells us that no reason outside of abuse is enough. The damage of kids growing up without their parents is unacceptable. It has been proven that children grow up to be better balanced and more successful when both parents are actively engaged in their lives. We at Morrow Detective Agency hope that more people will take that into consideration before going the selfish route. 

Morrow Detective Agency is a licensed private investigation firm located on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles, Ca in Simi Valley, CA. Morrow Detective Agency is capable of performing surveillance, process service, locates, background investigations, asset investigations, and more. Please feel free to visit our website at www.MorrowDetectiveAgency.com or give us a call at (805) 823-3540 and allow us to make your problem our solution!

Dealing with the mentally ill

In this line of work you are bound to come into contact with people that are mentally ill. In insurance fraud cases you may get hired to conduct surveillance to determine whether someone's lifestyle is reflective of what they or their attorney's are alleging it to be. You may receive a call from a potential client who says that they are hearing voices inside their homes, or that every time they come home things are missing or are being moved around. You may also get the call that someone is being followed or they feel that they are being watched. Dealing with these cases takes a certain amount of empathy and sometimes being open minded. 

In 2010 we worked a case in the Oakland, California area. The insurance adjuster needed to know where a claimant was residing as the information that they had on the claimant was sketchy. Normally with cases like these you start with a place that you know that the person will be and follow them home. On this day our investigator goes to a doctors office located in the Jack London Square area. The claimant arrived approximately 15 minutes before the appointment. The claimant looked like he had fallen on rough times. Once our investigator was able to confirm that this was the claimant, we positioned ourselves in area that we could follow the claimant from the appointment. About 40 minutes later the claimant exited the building and we started to follow him. The claimant walked and continued walking for approximately 2 miles. As he walked we noted that he appeared to be having a conversation, but with no one in particular, our investigator used a camera to zoom in to see if the claimant was using a blue tooth but he was found to not be using one. The claimant eventually arrived at a shelter, he got into line and entered into the shelter where he was out of view for approximately 30 minutes. The claimant then exited the shelter and our investigator noted that he had a paper bag in his hand, he walked for a short while and then was observed laying down on the sidewalk under a freeway bridge. The claimant ate his food and continued to converse with himself. Our investigator watched the claimant for approximately  four hours before hearing back from the adjuster, the adjuster advised our investigator to discontinue the surveillance, and they also would not  need to pursue any more surveillance on this subject as he had a psychological claim. 

In 2013 our offices were referred a case in the Gardena, California area. We were advised that the client believed that her house was being bugged and that someone had also placed a camera within the residence. Our investigator arrived at the client's residence and upon arrival immediately noticed aluminum foil in the windows, light fixtures, and covering the electrical outlets. Our investigator started searching the apartment for wireless camera's and listening devices, while we were conducting our investigation the client became more and more agitated, she stated that she had immigrated to the United States and believed that the President was spying on her. She also advised that the President himself had installed camera equipment into her residence. Our investigator continued looking through the residence and found nothing to support her claim of the President or anyone for that matter watching her. Our investigator noted that the client had pictures of her daughter in the residence and inquired about that relationship, the client called her daughter and requested that we speak with her. Our investigator spoke with the daughter who stated that her mother had been suffering from mental health issues for a while and asked that our offices do what we can to help her. After hanging up with the client's daughter we devised a plan. We told the client where she could get anti bugging equipment and showed her how we used the equipment. We did this in hopes that the client could calm her paranoia's and hopefully live a fuller life. About a year later the client called our offices and did inform us that the President found out that we had been there and that we were too good and they stopped bugging her house. 

In 2014 our investigator met a gentleman at the courthouse while we were filing some paperwork. The gentleman asked if our investigator could assist him in a neighborhood dispute. Our investigator stated that we could help him out and made an appointment to come to his residence in the Los Angeles, California area. Our investigator arrived at the client's residence and immediately observed a huge wall with no trespassing signs plastered and spray painted all over it. Several cameras were noted to be placed on the walls and also on the roof of the house. The client welcomed our investigator and had our investigator go into his backyard. While speaking to the client our investigator noted that there was larger than normal populace of bee's in the area. The client started talking about his dispute with his neighbor, he said that his neighbor had been going on his property and spraying pesticide and weed killer on his property. The client wanted for our investigators to conduct surveillance on Wednesdays when the neighbor did yard work, the client also wanted for our investigator to find out who the gardener was so that we could speak to him and see if he was putting pesticide in his yard. While we were talking a bee flew onto the arm of our investigator and our investigator batted the bee away. The client all of a sudden goes into a frenzy and starts yelling at our investigator, he states that the neighbor must have gotten to us since we are trying to kill his hive too. Our investigator quickly informed the client that we did not know his neighbor and reminded him that we were there at his request. The client started sweating profusely and started cussing and yelling to the point where saliva was frothing at the corners of his mouth. At this time our investigator told the client that we did not believe that we could be of service to the client. The client yelled at us and we excused ourselves and vacated the premises. The client called us later on that evening and apologized asking if we could come back and help him. Our investigator stated that we sympathized with the client, but we would have to decline the case. 

It is not unusual to get calls with strange requests, from the woman that called us to find Tom Cruise because she had his baby and he is ducking her, to the woman that called and said that Jesus and Lucifer were having tea at her table and she needed me to come over to facilitate a peace contract. We as investigators need to handle these calls as professionally and considerately as we can. For every one of these people that think someone is watching them, there is a few that are correct. Just because your being paranoid, does not mean that you don't have a reason to be. 

Morrow Detective Agency is a licensed private investigation firm located on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles, Ca in Simi Valley, CA. Morrow Detective Agency is capable of performing surveillance, process service, locates, background investigations, asset investigations, and more. Please feel free to visit our website at www.MorrowDetectiveAgency.com or give us a call at (805) 823-3540 and allow us to make your problem our solution!

Sealed with a kiss

Infidelity, cheating, stepping out, all terms that reference the same thing, someone is doing something with someone that they are not supposed to be. 

Our last blog was about a client that suspected that his wife was cheating on him and was later on proven to be wrong (refer to the blog when your wrong), this blog is about a client that suspects his wife is cheating and his suspicions are proven to be correct. A client calls, we will name him Simon to keep things simple, and states that he believes that his wife is seeing someone else. The reasons he gives are that his wife has made a new friend, and she has been seen around town with this new friend at various eateries and bars. Simon said that he approached his wife, we will call her Kelly, about her new friend and Kelly tells him that there is nothing going on, that they are just friends and that they are hanging out because her friend is having a hard time with life right now. Simon is no fool, he want's to believe his wife but his gut is telling him that something isn't right. 

Simon starts noticing other things, Kelly is more argumentative and is using excuses to get out of the house and out of sight. She has started an aerobics class that is two hours. Her girlfriends are now starting to have problems in their relationships and Kelly needs to be there for them. Simon is at his wits end. Simon gives us a call, he will be going out of town on business for a week and wants to see if the mouse will play. We get all of the pertinent information and tell him that we will see what we can do. We start our surveillance the following day and Kelly is observed going to a store, going to the gym, getting coffee, and going to work. We break off at work and decide to pick it back up after the work hours. In the evening we go back to her place of employment and follow her home, she is at home for about two hours before she comes out dressed for the kill. She jumps into her vehicle and departed the area. Kelly is followed out of the city for about 25 miles. She arrives at a nice restaurant and enters into the restaurant. Our investigator gives her a couple of minutes before going in. 

Kelly is observed sitting at a booth with who else but the friend, we will call him Ralph, she is sitting right next to him and not across from each other. Our investigator finds a suitable vantage point and observes Kelly and Ralph as they flirt and engage in conversation. At this time all Kelly and Ralph are doing is flirting and though it is not appropriate, it is not damning evidence either. After approximately 45 minutes our investigator notes that they are about to get their bill and we hurriedly exited the restaurant. 

Kelly and Ralph exit the restaurant, Ralph walks Kelly to her vehicle and they stand by the trunk of her vehicle, Ralph embraces Kelly and is observed grabbing on her butt. Kelly then brings him in close and seals the deal with a kiss. All the while they are doing this they don't see our investigator recording their activities. At this point we have everything that is needed, Ralph is more than just a friend, and to top it off our client advised that his wife told him that she would be visiting one of those girlfriends that was going through a hard time. After the make out session in the parking lot, Kelly gets in her vehicle, Ralph walks over to his and he starts driving out the parking lot with Kelly in tow. We follow them to a residential area about 15 minutes away from the restaurant, Ralph pulls into a garage and Kelly exits her vehicle, they both walk into the residence and close the garage door. We mark Kelly's parking spot to determine if she stays or leaves. When we return in the morning Kelly's vehicle is parked in the same exact spot and there was no movement. 

Now is the hard part, explaining to the client that his suspicions were accurate, that the wife he has been with for almost two decades has stepped out on their marriage. That the guy he suspected is in fact more than a friend. We show the client stills of his wife kissing Ralph, the client takes a deep breath and says that it was what he thought and that he would be alright. He then starts asking the questions that are all too common, why would she do this to their family?  What is going to happen to their family and the future that he thought they were both trying to build? Unfortunately we don't have those answers. Our investigator advises him that we will keep him and his family in our prayers. 

After working dozens and dozens of these cases, we have seen the devastation that it can cause. Children, in laws, friends, and communities are affected by these decisions. So we caution you with a bible verse Luke 12:3.  What is done in the dark, will come to light. 

Morrow Detective Agency is a licensed private investigation firm located on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles, Ca in Simi Valley, CA. Morrow Detective Agency is capable of performing surveillance, process service, locates, background investigations, asset investigations, and more. Please feel free to visit our website at www.MorrowDetectiveAgency.com or give us a call at (805) 823-3540 and allow us to make your problem our solution!

When your wrong

On a Monday afternoon our offices receive a call from a client who is insistent that his wife is having an affair. The client believes that his wife is having an affair on her lunch break and that her lunch break is not set but usually takes place between 11-1, he asks if we would be willing to take on the case and we agree to look into the matter for him. First day of surveillance we set up where we can watch both the exit door as well as the vehicle, we sit until 1 and report to the client that there was no outside activity observed. The client understood and then requested that we come out to his residence in the morning as he believed that one of his neighbors was involved in the affair, we make arrangements with the client to be out at his residence in the morning for the following day. 

We get out at his residence at approximately 5:00 a.m., which is the time that he departs to go to work. We set up in an area where the back yard wall and the front of the residence can be observed. At approximately 7:15 a.m., the subject departs for work, we follow her to make sure that she is not making any stops in between, which she does not. She goes to work, exits her vehicle and does not socialize with anyone on the way in. We report back to the client who says that he is perplexed as he believes that she has been engaging in this activity for quite a while. 

We continue on conducting surveillance for the client for the next few days and find that the subject does not appear to be engaging in any adulterous activities. The client wanted us to go to the extreme one morning and wanted our investigator to hide in the bushes in his backyard to insure that his wife was not climbing any fences to get into a neighbors yard, we declined to do this. We explained to the client that maybe the affair has ended and that maybe he and his wife should go see a counselor. Now normally you would think that people are happy to hear that their suspicions may not be valid or that if they were they are no more, our client was not happy about this at all, in fact he insisted that his wife was still doing this activity and even reasoned that she may have built an underground tunnel to get to her neighbors in order to continue the affair. We did check his backyard and found no tunnels lol. 

Unfortunately, we rarely find out the outcome of our cases, we hope that this client took our advice for the sake of his family and got the therapy that he and his wife needed in order to build a stronger relationship minus the suspicions and espionage. 

Morrow Detective Agency is a licensed private investigation firm located on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles, Ca in Simi Valley, CA. Morrow Detective Agency is capable of performing surveillance, process service, locates, background investigations, asset investigations, and more. Please feel free to visit our website at www.MorrowDetectiveAgency.com or give us a call at (805) 823-3540 and allow us to make your problem our solution!

Falsely Accused

Imagine one night you are taking a walk through a park on your way home, you see some friends and stop and talk with them as you speak with them the police come and surround you, the next thing you know you are patted down and placed in cuffs. You are told to stand on the sidewalk your friends are all now cuffed and placed in the same predicament. Minutes later you are told that you are being placed under arrest for Robbery, Sexual Assault, and Street Terrorism. You are taken to jail and processed. You are looking at 40 years in prison. The district attorneys office has police officers and crime scene technicians, you have a defense attorney and if you can afford one an investigator. 

My offices happened to get a call about this case approximately a month after the arrest. The attorney stated that her client said that at the time of the alleged crime he was not even in the area and therefor it would have been impossible for him to have committed this crime. We interview the client and he provides us a time line of where he was, when he was there, and who he was with. We track down his witnesses and confirm the times that he was with them and the places he went with them to. We are able to discern that there definitely was a time discrepancy. Now we turn our attention to the victim of the crime. After several attempts we were able to finally be able to speak to the victim who was a minor with the permission of the mother. The victim was very much traumatized by the whole event but stated that they would be willing to speak to us about the matter. We started off by asking the victim about their day, the victim stated that they woke up in the morning, hung around their home until the afternoon, then went out and hung out with some friends. They decided to go to a local carnival and after that they walked through the park. While walking through the park they were approached by four males, one of who brandished a weapon and told them to stay put and give them their belongings, the victim stated that another male pulled them aside and started fondling them, they even attempted to get into the victims shorts but were not able to due to the victims belt. For whatever reason, after the robbery and the physical altercation, the guys committing this crime departed the area. I asked the victim if she remembered what the suspects looked like, she said she did and even knew one of them, I asked her to describe them to me, she described them and none of them matched the ethnicity of my client, I also asked how tall were they, the victim gave heights that were well below the height of my client, I then showed the victim a picture of my client and asked had the victim seen him there that night, the victim said no, I also asked if my client was the one that had tried to get into their shorts and the victim said absolutely not as my client was a Caucasian male and the suspects were not Caucasian. I asked the victim if they ever pointed at my client and said that he was a part of this robbery or sexual assault the victim stated that on the night everything happened an officer drover them by where they had picked up my client and their friends, the officers asked the victim if they recognized anyone and the victim pointed to the individual next to my client, the victim than asked the officer to please get them out of there as the victim knew that these individuals were affiliated with a local gang. The victim apologized ( if you can believe that) for my client getting arrested and wrongfully accused of this crime. 

The evidence that we obtained was taken to the district attorneys office, keep in mind we could prove that our client was at a different place when the alleged incident occurred, and that the victim stated that he was not there, that he was taller and of a different race than the people that had allegedly committed the crime. The district attorneys office took a while to respond. Our client sat in jail an additional two months before the judge reviewed the new evidence that we had and decided to throw the case out. We use this case to show that you can get arrested wrongfully, that you can be guilty by association. If this client had not had the resources to launch an investigation there is a high probability that they would have done a plea bargain and done some time for a crime that they did not commit. 

Morrow Detective Agency is a licensed private investigation firm located on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles, Ca in Simi Valley, CA. Morrow Detective Agency is capable of performing surveillance, process service, locates, background investigations, asset investigations, and more. Please feel free to visit our website at www.MorrowDetectiveAgency.com or give us a call at (805) 823-3540 and allow us to make your problem our solution!

Beware!

Last week our offices received a call from a potential client wanting some background investigations done. The client had gotten divorced and had been speaking to some interested parties  via the internet for the past few months, now the interested parties have attempted to evolve the relationship into something else and my client wanted to know who they are before making that level of commitment.  The client  provided us with  two names. John Brown and John Smith. 

John brown we found out  was a convicted felon and born in Alabama  and settled in Tennessee. He was a career criminal having been convicted with robbery  and assault charges. 

John Smith  was found to be married and very much living in a different  state than was told to our client. Though  he had no convictions it was found that he had been born  in Washington.  

Why does it matter where  these individuals were born? Both of these individuals  stated that they were  born in Italy.  One of the individuals  stated that  he worked  in West Africa and that he had never been in any trouble. My client  was scheduled to pick up Brown from the airport  to be formally  introduced  and she was going to introduce  him to her minor aged daughter.

The bottom line is you never know who is on the other side of the screen. Make sure that you exercise due diligence before you send any money or introduce them to your family. 

Morrow Detective Agency is a licensed private investigation firm located on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles, Ca in Simi Valley, CA. Morrow Detective Agency is capable of performing surveillance, process service, locates, background investigations, asset investigations, and more. Please feel free to visit our website at www.MorrowDetectiveAgency.com or give us a call at (805) 823-3540 and allow us to make your problem our solution!

She only wants what is best

It's Thursday and after a long day out in the field, we are wrapping things up. An email inquiry is placed with our company, I make a mental note to look at it tomorrow but being the workaholic that I have grown to be I look at the email. The email states: I would like to find my son's father, I believe that he still resides in the area. I need to find him as my 10 year old son is starting to have questions about him and desires to know him. The email has a telephone number and an email address attached. Well so much for wrapping it up for the night. I contact the potential client and she tells me a story, ten years ago the client gave birth to a wonderful son, however due to circumstances the client felt that it would be better to leave and attempt to raise her son on her own. As time goes by the client starts noticing that her son had inquiries about who his father was. The client swallowing her pride decided to do what was best for him and not herself. She wanted the father contacted, she was even willing to forgo the child support etc, all she wanted was her son to get the opportunity to know his father. 

After hearing her story, I immediately started working on the case. I found a phone number and as luck would have it the voice mail was a personal one and announced the fathers name. I left a message stating that I was reaching out to the subject on behalf of his son, his son wants the opportunity to know his father, the Mother is willing to allow for this to happen with minimal contact from her in order to see their son be happy. I leave my contact information and pray for the best. The following day, I hear nothing. I call again in the early evening and again there is no response. I leave another message. Of course at this time I am considering all of the things that could be, maybe the subject has married and has a family, that family does not know about his past and the subject does not want to jeopardize  what he has now built.  Maybe he thinks that I am trying to play a trick on him and take him for his money. Matters such as these are delicate, so after pondering  for awhile about what to do I come up with a plan. I have my client write a letter explaining what her intentions are, I also ask her to include her son's direct contact information so that the subject can get in touch with their son completely bypassing her. 

The following evening at 8:30 p.m., I and an associate go to the subjects residence. The residence is dark, there are no lights illuminating from within. I open the gate to the residence and knock, I take a couple of steps back as I do not want to intimidate the subject. I am hoping that the subject will see myself and my  female associate and not view us as a threat. The subject comes to the door. I introduce myself and see instant recognition in his eyes. The subject states so your the guy that has been calling me and I tell him yes I am. I then explain that his ten year old son is yearning to meet him, that being a father is the greatest experience a man can have, and that my client is willing for him to establish contact on his own accord. I also tell him that I hope that he does the right thing. I give him the letter, he accepts and as I turn to leave, he says " Thank you very much for doing this", he shakes my hand and says that he will be in touch with me if he is unable to get in touch with his son. My associate and I hurry back to the car and call my client who is located three hours from me, I risk upsetting the client to tell her the good news. The client immediately cry's tears of joy and thanks God for the opportunity. I tell her that I will be in touch if the subject contacts me but to keep her ears open just in case he calls on his own. 

Two days later I get a message, the subject reached out to his son. The son and the subject had spoken and had even exchanged pictures. My client is elated as she see's the picture of the subject and remarks how much he has changed and how happy she is for the both of them. I tell the client that I will pray for her and her family and that I hope to be able to continue to watch them grow. In the end this client only wanted what was best for her son, not for herself, not for the father, but her son. This unselfishness touched me personally. Now I get to sit back and watch them grow on my Facebook feed. 

Morrow Detective Agency is a licensed private investigation firm located on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles, Ca in Simi Valley, CA. Morrow Detective Agency is capable of performing surveillance, process service, locates, background investigations, asset investigations, and more. Please feel free to visit our website at www.MorrowDetectiveAgency.com or give us a call at (805) 823-3540 and allow us to make your problem our solution!