Joan was the type of woman who pretended not to see things. In fact, Joan liked to believe that as long as she didn’t talk about a terrible issue, it would somehow just magically go away.
For the last four years of her thirty-year marriage, Joan was an ostrich. She suspected her husband of being a cheating spouse. But she buried her head in the sand. She suspected him of using cocaine again, even after he successfully completely rehab ten years ago. But Joan hid her head as often as possible. She also occasionally wondered if her husband was even capable of swindling Lewis, his longtime business partner. But unfortunately, Joan chose to wear those rose-colored glasses. And in the end, Joan was penniless.
When her daughter, Amanda, ended up in a very similar situation, Joan insisted that her daughter would not follow in her mom’s very naive and timid footsteps. Together, the women contacted .
They explained to the investigators all the things that didn’t seem to add up:
- Joan’s son-in-law, Ryan, only had a part-time job, but seemed to have enough money to support the family, although he kept tight control over the finances.
- Ryan spent long periods of time on the computer and would get angry if Amanda was even in the room.
- Every few days Ryan would leave the house and drive about 40 miles out of town. Amanda had checked the mileage on his truck and he would give a variety of explanations, but nothing that matched the regular absences.
When Ryan told Amanda he would be out of town for a few days, she immediately delivered the home computer to so a forensic computer specialist could complete a digital forensic investigation. Data mining software revealed what a shady operation Ryan had established.
The evidence revealed that the son-in-law was selling steroids through the mail. But that did not provide an explanation about the regular 40-mile trips. So the investigator began a covert surveillance. Equipped with electronic surveillance equipment, he was able to document exactly where Ryan was going and what he was doing.
As part of the illegal steroid sales, Ryan would go to a neighboring town to ship the steroids to customers. He was videotaped carrying packages into the post office. But that wasn’t the extent of his activities on these trips. Just like her mother, Amanda was married to an unfaithful husband.
When the divorce was final, Amanda struggled to get back on her feet, but nothing like her mother had. Joan moved on to educate as many women as she could about the highly professional and technical possibilities available through firms like . She used her own disaster as a means to convince other women to be brave enough to find the truth instead of hiding from it.
-Brenda McGinley, CEO, All in Investigations, All in Investigations
