Threatening Call
My family recently had an experience that highlighted for me of the important role that a Private Investigator can play in helping their clients have peace of mind. Not too long ago, my wife and oldest daughter had left for school, and they were almost there when my wife received a disturbing phone call. When my wife answered the phone, the person referred to her by name and told her he was going to come into her bedroom & then next calling them by name, said he was going to go into my oldest daughter’s room, then my middle daughter’s room.
The Police Can’t Help
At this point, my wife hung up the phone and tried calling me to make sure that everything and everybody was OK, but wasn’t able to get ahold of me. My wife and daughter arrived home distraught and frazzled, and were shortly followed by a Sheriff’s deputy whom they had called. As we spoke with the deputy, he took down some notes and tried calling the phone number of the person that made the threat, but that was about it. At this point, he basically told us that there was nothing else he could do.
When he left, we didn’t have any “warm and fuzzy feelings” that the sheriff’s department was going to do anything else for us. Because of what had happened, my kids were scared to be in our house and yet they were also scared to leave the house. It dawned on me at that point, that if like most people, I had to wait for the police to investigate what happened, I may never have closure. Although this was a very real and scary situation for my family, with the limited resources that the police have and since no one was physically hurt, this was not high on their priority list.
A Private Investigator Solves The Case
Fortunately, by nature of my profession, I was able to get ahold of the head of our investigations department, who also happens to be my very protective brother, and I had him start the process of figuring out who had called and threatened my family. All of the initial searches came back that the phone number belonged to an individual that we had never heard of, and the hits were all several months old, so we weren’t confident that the name was correct. My brother then turned to a source we use to get real time phone information. Through this source he was able to find that this phone number had just been activated 2 days earlier and obtained the name and address of the registered owner.
En route to kicking down the person’s door, my brother gave me the name who the phone was registered to and it was someone we knew well. Fortunately, it turns out the call came from a teenager that had simply gotten carried away with a prank phone call and it was nothing too serious. The perpetrator was dealt with in an appropriate manner, but thankfully nobody was ever in any real danger.
If we had not used a Private Investigator to help us figure out who it was however, my family would have been in fear for days, weeks, or maybe even months. But, by using the resources of a Private Investigator, within 90 minutes of the original call, we had the case solved and peace of mind knowing we were all safe.
As I have reflected on this event over and over in my mind, it gave me a new appreciation for what it is that we do for our clients on a daily basis and the effort that ours investigators make. When your family is in the middle of a difficult situation like this, you simply can’t put a price tag on having peace of mind and resolution.
If you have a situation where you need the help of a private investigator, click HERE for a free consultation.
Written by Jeremiah Jones, Barrister Support Services.
