Adoption searches and reunions can be a frustrating segment of the private investigative business. The leads are usually thin and relevant information is often non-existent. Still our staff tries to prevail under some very difficult circumstances.
During the 2015 holidays, I was asked to locate a young man named Michael and try to get him help for his addiction problems. I initially turned down the case, but the boy’s grandfather persuaded me otherwise. His plea was enhanced by showing me a photo of the 16-year old in a football uniform. The football uniform was from the same high school my son graduated. It seemed like it was meant to be.
In September 2016, I received a call from Michael on my cell phone. He was doing well and had been sober for nine months. He wanted to go to lunch when he returned from another state where he was in rehab. I reminded him it was his turn to buy since I had treated him at McDonald’s the day he was found. He laughed but politely agreed.
As the president of a private investigative agency with 5 offices and 22 investigators, we regularly get calls from people that want us to track down and find missing or lost pets. I am very sympathetic, but I will not take your money or your case.
The reality is that you don’t need a private investigator. When it comes to finding a lost pet, you honestly have the ability to do everything a PI can do.
Have you become disconnected from a friend or family member and want to see them for the holidays? If so, we are offering a free search and locate offer for a limited time (see below). Even if you are on the fence because someone wronged you, reaching out to the person may save a life. At the very least, it might help mend a relationship you probably both want healed.
This week we completed a case which involved locating a veteran of the U.S. armed forces that was addicted to heroin. (This is actually the 16th of similar cases like this so far in 2016.) The case was successful – meaning we got the person into detox and then into a rehabilitation program. We have found many more, but the lure of the drugs is too powerful for some to stop. They remain on the street chasing powder.
Recently a New Mexico couple made national headline news this past week by making their 16-year-old son stay in a tent which was pitched in the parent’s backyard as a form of punishment. Opinions were all over the board about this, but trust me: Punishment like this does not work.
Boot camps and work ranches that focus on breaking teens like wild horses only make things worse. You need to get to the core of the behavioral problem, and like anything else in life that is worthwhile: It takes a lot of time and work.
Affluenza runs rampant here in Orange County. In many cases, mom and dad are completely caught up in their own lives. They’re off chasing money, career, drugs, sexual excitement… giving very little care or direction to the children they have borne. When their offspring cause them trouble, these parents try to buy their way out of whatever inconvenience their child has created.
A 65-year father mysteriously disappeared last month, and we’re trying to help find him.
Craig Wilson was last seen on February 9, 2016. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the location of Craig.
Dozens of people expressed interest in the Michael Ryan Peterson runaway case. We had about 30 missing person cases like this in 2015. Some were a little tougher and unfortunately, there are three cases where we still haven’t the missing person.
Those cases keep you up at night.
A couple days ago, I received three photos from Michael’s grandparents, who visited him today in Utah. Above is one of them. What a great Christmas present for all three.
In the late evening hours of Sunday, October 18, 2015, 6 patients escaped the Sovereign Health Group (a rehabilitation center in El Cajon, California) by climbing over the fences.
5 were quickly found, but a month later, 16-year-old Michael Ryan Peterson was still missing.
This case landed on my desk on November 17, 2015 – nearly 30 full days after Michael went missing – when Michael’s grandfather called our Newport Beach office.
This is the story of the entire case, and what happened to Michael.
