Missing Persons Investigation

What are Missing Persons Investigations?

Missing persons investigations are simply the best way to find out the truth about anyone you cannot find.

On average, more than 800,000 people are reported as missing and are entered into FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) annually. Of these, 85%-90% are minors. These statistics do not include those who are unofficially missing such as those who have not been reported as missing persons.

One of the big problems with police-led missing persons searches is simply that the term missing persons is so narrow. Police will only begin looking for a missing child at a specific amount of time after the child was last seen and by that time, it may be too late if the child has been kidnapped by a pedophile or child killer. Police are also reluctant, due to thinning resources, to search for people who voluntarily left home or for those who live on the streets. Even in a police-led missing person search, police will stop looking after a certain amount of time and will declare the case a cold case.

Police do their best with the resources they have, but law enforcement simply is not equipped to deal with the crime rates today. Anyone who wants real answers and fast needs to speak to a private investigator. A professional investigator will start looking for someone as soon as you feel uneasy and will continue to search as long as you are still looking for answers.

Who hires investigators to find missing persons?

The answer to that is just about everyone. You can launch a missing persons investigation to find:

• Long lost loved ones or family members who have voluntarily disappeared or run away.
• Fugitives you need to find.
• Debtors for your money.
• Missing persons who have been gone a long time and are part of a cold case.
• Runaways and minors who have been kidnapped.

Basically, if you are worried about someone's whereabouts and wish to locate someone who is not easy to find, a qualified missing persons investigator will be able to use advanced techniques to help find the person you are looking for.

How does a missing persons investigator locate a missing person?

Professional investigators use a number of techniques to find missing persons:

• Fugitive recovery agents. These investigators are experts at locating fleeing criminals and debtors. They are not limited by the same laws as police and so can enter virtually any place they believe a criminal is hiding.
• Physical searches by air, land, sea. Private investigators use a number of vehicles to search areas the average person has no access to.
• Networking with other private investigators or paying informants. Private investigators often have extensive networks of people they can recruit to help them in a search.
• Surveillance and videotaping. Investigators can observe places where a missing person is likely to be or can observe and track a suspect in a missing persons case.
• Searching hospitals and mortuaries. Private investigators can search through a number of facilities where a victim may be.
• Doing background checks, questioning witnesses, and other investigative techniques. Private investigators can turn to others to isolate likely suspects or likely sources of aid in finding a missing person.

Use the search utility on the top of this page or select a state on the left to find a missing persons investigator. Still can't find what you are looking for? Call us at (888) 997-4669.