From proving your innocence to proving your parentage, there are many reasons that a person might find themselves in need of a private investigator of some kind or another. From criminal to civil cases, finding the right investigator can prove a challenge for people who have not had a similar need before. To make things more complicated, the family and friends that you would normally turn to may not always be able to provide you with a reliable recommendation as this service is not necessarily widely used.
If you find yourself in need of an investigator, the first thing that you need to determine is exactly what you want them to investigate and the information that you want them to find. Tracking down a biological parent when you find out that you were adopted as a child is a much different matter than tracking down evidence that proves your innocence (or helps to prove the guilt of another). Depending on the type of case that you need handled, an investigator might be more or less qualified than another.
Discovering your Needs
When you are ready to hire an investigator, you must first do some investigation of your own into the information, exactly, that you want to gather. Knowing what you need will be a big help both in choosing the right investigator to help you meet your needs and also in helping that investigator to complete the job to your satisfaction.
Spend time contemplating your needs and desires: Do you want to know your mother’s name, or whether she is still alive, or do you want a detailed profile of who she is, where she lives, and what she is doing? Once you know this, you can begin your search for an investigator.
The Search for Help
When you are ready to begin looking for an investigator to help you with your case, start with the people that helped you start your own search. If you are looking for information on tracking down a person, start by asking the people who gave you the initial information. People who deal with records may also deal with many people like you who have gone on searches of their own.
If you cannot get recommendations from the courts or clerks that set your search off, then check the phone book or the internet for investigators who work in your area. You may also want to check specifically for an investigator who lives or works in the area of the investigation if that is different, as this will reduce things like travel costs.
Check the Price
Before you contact an investigator, consider how much they may charge. You will need to plan ahead to decide how much you will be able to spend on your investigation, and how badly you really need the information. Keep in mind that an hourly fee is usually charged, and that your investigation could drag on much longer than you anticipated.
You may also want to determine a cut off date ahead of time so that if your investigation drags on too long for you to handle, you already have a planned date to end it. Letting your investigator know this at the onset might help them to work with that in mind.
Interview your Investigators
Talk to several investigators before you choose the one that you will work with. You need to find someone that you are comfortable with so that the two of you can work together. You also need to be sure that your investigator is experienced in the field for which you are employing them. Ask them how many similar cases they have done, and what cases they have worked on recently to get an idea of their qualification. They should be able to describe (in general terms) at least several similar cases that they have worked on recently. If an investigator has never tracked a missing person before, you do not want to be the person whose case becomes the “learning case”.
Once you have completed your interviews and determined the prices of each investigator, it is time to make your decision on who will work best with you. Base this on the information, on your gut, and on their own experience with the type of case for the best results.