When Kim’s son, Jake, announced that he was joining the United States Army, she wasn’t sure how she felt about that decision. In some ways, Jake was fairly lost. He worked dead-end jobs for a few weeks then quit. He moved in and out of the family basement. She knew Jake was at least dabbling in some drug use. And so, in one way, Kim tried to hope that Jake would find the structure and direction he needed by serving in the military.
In another way, she feared that he would be rejected as a possible new soldier, either because he failed a drug screen or because he was unable to pass psychological tests. Still feeling that confusion, Kim hid her concerns behind a smile when her only son came home one day to announce that he had been accepted to serve in the military. Like any loving mom, she cried many tears when Jake left home for basic training. Kim cried even more tears when Jake was shipped off to Afghanistan.
But nothing prepared Kim for the worry and sleepless nights that followed a few months later. First, she worried incessantly about his safety and well-being in a war zone. Then Kim learned that her son had been dishonorably discharged from the Army. He called home twice, to say he was traveling en route to Oregon.
That was the last time Kim heard from her only son. He just simply disappeared. No one else had heard from him and Kim had no idea how to find him. She contacted hospitals and homeless shelters in larger cities in Oregon. But she had no proof that Jake was actually in Oregon.
She tried to file a missing person’s report in their home city, but because he’d not been in town when he called her, they said it was out of their jurisdiction. And, because she could not prove that Jake was somehow endangered, the missing person report was another dead end.
After almost three years of constant worry, Kim contacted . It’s not just in Indiana that they have a superb reputation for finding people. They have an outstanding record that illustrates the fact they know how to find missing persons.
Part of their success comes from access to a wide array of professional, proprietary data bases; available to only the top investigators. Secondly, with experience the detectives and researchers have taught them many tricks, tips and keys to find a missing person. But lastly, good missing person investigators are highly attune to human behavior and work with a dogged tenacity and determination. Here at , there is not one lead or thread that is not run down.
Social media engineering has become one of the best tools in the investigator’s arsenal – tied with the commitment to spend hours tracking down facts and information bit by bit, by hand, by phone and by the Internet.
Kim’s story is one of those that the result is enough – at least to start. Through daily calls to check shelters, investigators found that he occasionally stays at a shelter in California. He was working part-time near there, and although he came in as an alcoholic, he had been sober for nearly three months. Kim did not have the opportunity to talk with him, but stays in touch with the shelter and hopes one day to actually be able to hug her only son once again.
If you want to find a missing person, go to the experts. Contact .
-Brenda McGinley, CEO, All in Investigations, All in Investigations