No one can imagine what it is like to have a missing loved one. There is no way to prepare for that kind of uncertainty. Not knowing if the person is alive, if he is well, if he is eating, if he is lost or kidnapped. It is one of the most difficult times that anyone goes through, and it is important to know what to do if you find yourself in that situation. Knowing the steps to follow in case someone disappears helps to keep calm in those moments where pain and anguish make the brain not work 100%.
Know that private investigators are a great support in these situations, and the best prepared to find a missing person. If you think that someone important in your life is missing, either because he or she was waiting for you somewhere and never arrived, or because you have not heard from that person for longer than usual, or even you think that the reason is about utroskap, the most important thing is to act quickly. The faster a search is coordinated, the more opportunities there are to find the person.
The first step should always be to alert the police. This causes protocols to be activated so that law enforcement agencies are aware of the case and participate in the search. Then you have to communicate with family and friends, so they know that the person is missing and help to search for it. The next steps are more complicated, and this is when the help of a private investigator can streamline processes. For example, you always have to verify the person’s social media accounts. A distraught family member or loved one may lose sight of valuable clues by logging into the missing person’s accounts. On the other hand, although the technique of printing flyers and posters with the image of the disappeared person and contact information is always used, we are in the era of digital communications.
For example, I developed a system to use social media in cases of missing persons in such a way that the information about the person goes viral and reaches a significant number of people. This method has been used recently with fabulous results, where out of 5 people 3 have been found in a matter of weeks. Finally, there are tools that are more accessible to researchers than to the common citizen. These are cell phone tracking, national and federal records of missing or unidentified persons, and the unfortunate task of verifying the entrances to the morgue. The latter is perhaps the most difficult for those close to the disappeared person, because in that case finding the person means that there is no longer hope. There, the support of the researcher helps to eliminate a desperate moment almost daily.
In short, private investigators are an important resource when a person disappears. We concentrate our time, efforts and resources in the search for that person and we speed up the processes that must be carried out to find their whereabouts. The percentage of missing persons cases that are solved by private investigators is high. But beyond experience and knowledge, the most important thing for me is the support we can offer to family members and loved ones who are going through moments of intense pain. Being able to ease the process and ease the burden of investigation off the shoulders of those already in stress and anguish is a privilege and an honor.