Posts Tagged ‘Private Investigator’
Melinda Kidder: Wonder Why?
I have had a few people ask me about my blog post pertaining to Melinda Kidder: Melinda Kidder: Jealous, Wanna Be Private Investigator! I have had a few people actually tell me that I may have been a little too harsh, until I explained……… Once my friendly critics understood what happened, as much as I could intelligently explain to them, they no longer thought I was being so harsh. Believe it or not, there was a time that Melinda Kidder and I were friends, or so I thought…..
Melinda Kidder and Rick Gurley in “friendlier times”
What has happened to me the past six (6) months has happened due to vilest of human emotions, JEALOUSY! I am a high school graduate, that “screwed up” and acted like a natural born THUG, when I was a younger adult. I am a convicted felon! I was of a total criminal mindset when I was a younger man. I KNOW what I was, and I KNOW what I am! When I tell my story, when I talk about my early adulthood years, people are amazed because they are talking to a successful business man that they just never thought could run their own business, much less a Private Investigation business, and WAY much less working in the legal field; and be very successful at it. I am not bragging, I don’t usually take the time to toot my own horn, and I am not doing that now, but if I am going to tell you that I am successful, you need to know what my gauge for success is, right? So here it is; I helped parents recover their abducted children, I have assisted innocent people in not being wrongly convicted on serious felony charges that could have put them in prison for ten (10) to twenty (20) years, I have tracked down and returned to custody dangerous fugitives from other countries that otherwise might not have been held accountable for their accused crimes. I have seen a father’s tears when he got his daughter back that he thought he might not have ever seen again, I have seen tears of joy in a mother’s face who’s daughter was found not guilty on two (2) of the most vilest charges imaginable, and I have witnessed a private businessman awe as he thanked me for getting two fugitives out of Mexico for him, that nobody else could touch. I have seen $35,000.00 retainers, I have made $250.00/Hr. with NO college education. Most of all, I have changed my life, I am a pretty decent person, still angry, still not capable of tolerating bad people that like to victimize others, but a decent person, maybe not a good person but still a decent person. Yes, I believe that I am a success story, maybe not as great a success story as many others are, but none the less a success story! What is funny here is that Melinda Kidder has admitted that she is jealous of me, just ask her. Here is the statement she made in 2010:
I’ve considered whether its jealousy on my part, and perhaps I do have some jealousy that you might have more business coming in than I do.
I think that is as close to an admission of jealousy from Melinda Kidder as I need to have. What is even funnier is that Melinda Kidder wastes her time being jealous of all of the things she can actually make happen for herself, and not being concerned about any of the things that she should be trying to change within herself. Melinda Kidder is jealous of the money I make, and the business I bring in which is an uneven flow for all of us, meaning money and success comes and it goes for us all. Money and success are things that come and go in all of our lives, it is never constant; and some people never learn that. What is even more concerning is that Melinda Kidder never thought to consider once how she could make the changes in herself that I made in myself, so she would actually have the amount of business coming in that she perceived me to have, which is what she should have been concentrating on all along.
We all have trying times. I just had another trying time in my life, with one former employee trying to sabotage my company, and another one not being smart enough to see it. This latest round of what I like to call “Fuckery” bought on by this dishonest, morally challenged employee caused me a lot of problems. During this time of “attempted Fuckery” by one of my former employees, somehow or another Melinda Kidder managed to insert herself right in the middle of it. I wonder how? You know, I had one phone call with Melinda Kidder that lasted three (3) minutes in the past three (3) years. I was going to give Melinda Kidder some “over-flow cases”, as to extend an olive branch to her; however Melinda Kidder refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement and that precludes me from assigning case work to sub-contractors. I mean, (and let this be a lesson to the consumer) if a Private Investigator can not guarantee you that they will keep your information confidential unless under court order, or if the Private Investigator does not have a confidentiality clause in their contract; do you really want to risk giving sensitive information to that Private Investigator? So, I concluded my conversation with Melinda Kidder and “subbed” out the work to someone else. But here are the questions: How did Melinda know that my former employee had a court action against me, it was only listed on CaseNet by Case Number, not by either parties name? How did Melina Kidder even know who to get in touch with in regards to my case? She sure had to contact someone in regards to my case, because she was a witness against me in this case that was initiated by a former employee of mine. Melinda Kidder had to make an effort to try to find out what was going on after that phone call I had with her. So, there was an active effort on her part to dig into my personal business to find out about this case initiated against me by a former employee of mine. Why did Melinda Kidder have to dig into any of this, she should have just hung up the phone and moved on and minded her own business; just like I did in regards to her. Nope, Melinda had to try to insert herself into something that was NONE of her business. I mean, Melinda Kidder could not even truthfully testify that she had any idea about what cases I was calling her about, so what do you think her purpose was in my case? Fortunately Melinda Kidder did not lie under oath, but it was not because she is “The Investigator With Integrity”, it was because she is the Investigator that knows Rick Gurley records his phone conversations!
Here is what is REALLY sad, I bought Melinda Kidder into this business. Yeah, I really did. in 2005 I bought a desk from Melinda Kidder at her home, her and I got to talking and she asked what I did for a living and I told her; back then Melinda Kidder was driving a school bus. Melinda Kidder expressed an interest in the Private Investigation business, so I showed her how to apply for a license, where to get an insurance bond at, and what software might be useful to her for running her Private Investigation business. I even gave Melinda a few cases, and paid her pretty well to work those cases. Before she denies it by saying as she said to me once that I never gave her anything but a client that did not pay her, ask her about this picture below:
Retainer Check To Melinda Kidder
Now due to Melinda Kidder putting herself in the middle of a situation that was none of her business, she has caused me to blog about it and put some of her business out there; cause and effect. Melinda Kidder is her own worst enemy, now any time she is working a case that goes to court and opposing counsel does a search on her on the Internet, they will find this blog post: Melinda Kidder: Jealous, Wanna Be Private Investigator! And they will find this excerpt from the blog post:
My attorney was going to “obliterate” her on the stand, but after we saw that she actually told the truth under oath, my attorney and I made a decision not to bring out the fact that Melinda Kidder suffers from memory lapses. Just ask her. Ask Melinda if she did not get sick about 10 years ago, and if her illness did not cause her short term and long term memory problems. To any attorney that ever has a case against her, just ask her while she is on the stand about any illness she might of had, what the effects were, and if it affected her memory, and if it STILL affects her memory. Melinda Kidder does not make a good witness in any case due to her illness imposed memory problems. ATTORNEYS TAKE NOTE! I am happy to be a witness that Melinda Kidder personally told me that she contracted an illness, that she had to have a brain operation, and that it caused her and still does cause her short term and long term memory loss problems
And so, Melinda Kidder will have given the court another credibility issue to consider in any case she might testify in. A piece of advice Melinda Kidder: “You don’t piss off the keeper of the secrets by trying to publicly humiliate him, you either KILL the keeper of the secrets or you leave him alone”.
Earn It, Own It! Steal It, Possess It!
Okay, I am on the “war path”; by now this is no secret! But everything we do should have some kind of a benefit to others; so here is my “pearl of wisdom post” for the year. I hope this post benefits those that have betrayed me and tried to damage my business as well as it does anyone else reading.
Of course if you have ever worked hard, sacrificed, and stayed the course to build something, a business, a company, an organization, a savings account, to own a house, or buy a vehicle, or get a college degree, or just whatever you have worked hard and sacrificed for; then you understand the title of this post. One can only own something when they earn the right to own it. Anyone can steal from someone else, but whatever they steal they will only possess, and never own!
Hopefully this post will help Bonni Arnold to understand one key and critical philosophy in life, that nobody has ever taken the time to explain to her; the difference between owning something and possessing something. This is why Bonni Arnold is a THIEF, not just because of her convictions on Case Net, but because nobody ever taught her the difference between owning something and possessing something. Just type in this case number: 01CR169012 on Case Net: and you’ll get a good idea about Bonni Arnold’s philosophy in life
Here is a picture of Bonni Arnold:
Bonni Arnold: THIEF!
Careful with this one! This lady has tried all of her life to game the legal system, and has had some success! However, she ran into a few people that are going to try to put a stop to it, and hopefully will with some work, effort, and a little luck; and I am only one of those people!
Bonni has never tried to earn anything in her life, she has never held a job for over a year, and has been fired from most of the places she has worked! She would rather fake an injury and try to sue someone in court for a living than to work and earn a living! This is one of the many reasons she is so despicable! Right now as I write this Bonni Arnold has filed a Personal Injury Suit in court in which she claims she can not work a regular job due to someone rear ending her. Here is the kicker; she worked a regular job when she was working for me, she worked a regular job in construction doing manual labor, all after she was rear ended! Fortunately the attorney that is representing the poor guy who’s insurance company is being sued by Bonni seems to be one sharp lady, that is not going to let Bonni Arnold get away with gaming the system. The Attorney is Ann Hagan and she has a lot of experience, and is doing everything she can to prevent Bonni Arnold from “gaming the system”; if you recognize Bonni Arnold and you know something that might help Ann Hagan to keep Bonni Arnold from getting over on the system, please click Ann Hagan’s name above where it is linked and give her a call.
So, here is the lesson for Bonni Arnold and anyone else that does not understand that the easy way out is seldom the best way out. Bonni Arnold, you can’t do what I do! You can’t run a company like I can! You may think you can, but you can’t! You didn’t earn it! You don’t understand what it means to sacrifice for something that is bigger than yourself, because you are too selfish to understand that! You believe that stealing from someone gets you the same thing they had, it doesn’t! You can’t have any pride in what you possess, when you steal it. You did not starve, struggle, and work your ass off to own a company like mine! Six months of working for my company does not even entitle you to be anything other than a laborer, much less own a Private Investigation Agency! A REAL Private Investigator takes years and years learning his or her craft, cultivating contacts, and patiently builds a decent agency over years of time, not months! You have never really owned anything, because you have never taken the time to earn anything. Having a sexual affair with Danieal H. Miller for financial loans and job titles in his company does not make you an Investigator, it makes you a whore! Those sexually explicit text messages that you used to brag about that you got on my phone (YEAH, my phone) from Danieal H. Miller, did you really think that I did not get copies of those? Really? You should know me a little better than that. What about those pictures of your bare ass that you up-loaded onto my phone and my SkyDrive account, you don’t think I saved them somewhere else other than SkyDrive? Remember, I called you and told you that you were uploading those pictures to my SkyDrive account? You are not nowhere as bright as you seem to think you are. Whoever gave you the idea that you could file for an order of protection against me to try to extort $3,061.75 from me REALLY advised you poorly! Yeah, I have a copy of that pile of crap attempt to settle letter, look below:
ATTEMPT TO EXTORT MONEY FROM ME BY OFFERING TO SETTLE EX-PARTE FOR $3,061.75
So, you, “Sleazy” Miller and Brad “Crazy” Crowell REALLY thought you could pull that crap off? On me? REALLY? Nobody told you that I don’t scare or intimidate, you have to put me in front of a Judge and let the Judge decide; but you won’t extort money from me using the legal system! And you thought that after the Judge ruled this would be over with? Ohh HELL no! Every LEGAL means at my disposal to rectifying this situation, I am going to use. And I am in this for the long haul. I am going to file lawsuits, complaints to the OCDC, and blog about this for YEARS to come! I just was not the one to try to victimize, and tell your attorney that too! I don’t victimize well!
What would make any of you two DIPSTICK attorneys that tried to help Bonni Arnold with her attempt to extort money from me, want to try to help her extort money from someone like me, anyway? You have to know that as a Private Investigator in Columbia, MO. for over twelve years, I know a few things that people like you really don’t like me knowing. Brad, didn’t I call you and ask you about that Public Defender that you were having an affair with, while you were still married to your wife? Did you think that was a coincidence? You remember, right before you were admitted to Mid-MO. for blowing a hole though your house with a shotgun, from the inside of the house? I know you managed to keep that quiet, but did you think I did not know? What? Danny Miller; Arlie Nole and I are still good friends; you defended him and took care of his legal problems for years, do you really think that I don’t know a few things that you would not want known? What about that Judge you flew to the Mustang Ranch in NV., to get some bond reductions so that Arlie Nole could post bond for some people that were under no-bonds? Bet you never thought that would come back to “bite you in that old, white wrinkly ass”, did you?
You two attorneys HAVE to had known that when this was over with I was going to respond to your efforts, didn’t you? Bonni Arnold was never a threat to me, she was always too stupid to be a threat, but you two “DIRTY, DIPSTICKS” made her a threat by taking up her cause, when you KNEW it was BULLSHIT! Both of you knew you should not have represented her to begin with, not just because it was not allowed due to our previous relationships (and that is why both of you got kicked from this case), but also because you both KNEW it was inappropriate, and unethical for Bonni Arnold to try to use an ex-parte and an application for a Full Order of Protection to try to collect money that she is not even owed! If any reader here ever wants any proof of how inappropriate and unethical it is to try to use an ex-parte temporary order of protection to collect money, refer back to this earlier blog post: A Good Referral To An EXCELLENT Attorney Who Did A Spectacular Job For Me! and read the quoted case law, and if that is not enough think about this; after I got Danieal H. Miller and Brad Crowell “kicked” from the case (Actually My Attorney Gretchen Yancey did this, she is an ASS-KICKER, I can’t say enough good things about her), the only other attorney that Bonni could find to take this case was from Unionville, MO (135 miles away from Columbia, MO.) and went to law school with Danieal H. Miller. She could not find a local attorney or even an attorney in Jefferson City, MO. to touch this pile of crap after the two “dirtiest” attorneys in Columbia, MO. got kicked from it. So, if you ever ask yourself why I am also including you two “Used Car Dealer’s Of An Attorney” in this, it is because you both tried to help Bonni Arnold damage me and my company, Danieal H. Miller because he is an old pervert that knew Bonni Arnold would exchange sex for legal services, and Brad Crowell because Danny Miller had him at a disadvantage due to him having office space with Danny Miller and assisting him on some of his cases. You both knew better, and you both have an entire page on this blog devoted to each of you, and Danny Miller your secretary, Jo and her “unusual accounting practices” are going to get a page too, because she was so happy to try to be a witness against me…. And tell Stephanie I have my ears open for “dirt” on her too. You people had to know there would be a day of reckoning after the crap you tried to pull in court. You just had to know this day would come, right?
Here is a piece of advice for you two DUMMIES! “You don’t piss off the keeper of the secrets by trying to publically humiliate him, you either KILL the keeper of the secrets or you leave him alone”.
Bonni Arnold, I also know that your boyfriend is with you because it is cheaper to be with you than for him to have to pay the child support you took him to court for in 2004. And he may act like he supports you, but ask Webster if this is turning out like he was so confident that it would…..
Just a piece of advice Bonni Arnold; it is not too late for you. Find something you want in life and EARN it, don’t try to steal it! You’ll change your life for the better if you follow that single piece of advice…
Rick Gurley
Melinda Kidder: Jealous, Wanna Be Private Investigator!
Back in 2008 when Joseph Lucero and Pam Smith were in court over some differences that they had, which seemed to arise from a student-professor relationship that they had when Joseph Lucero attended MU; I knew that Melinda Kidder was not really cut out for Private Investigation work. Not REAL Private Investigation work.
I remember the day as clear as if it was yesterday. Randall Johnston and George Smith two top-notch civil attorneys in Columbia, MO. were representing Joseph Lucero. Now George Smith and Randall Johnston are some of the best civil attorneys that I know of, they just have the experience to be two of the best civil attorneys that I know! On the day that Melinda Kidder took the stand to testify for Pam Smith and Randall Johnston made her leave the courtroom crying like a little baby, YES actually broke down in tears; I knew Melinda Kidder was not cut out for Private Investigation work and this pretty well proved it. Private Investigation work requires one to be tough, “thick skinned”, hard to intimidate, and cool under pressure. Anyone that actually breaks down and cries because some attorney raised their voice at them under cross-examination, has NONE of these qualities!
What is shameful is that I got Melinda Kidder started in the Private Investigation business. Back in 2005 – 2006 I bought a desk from her, and we got to talking and I told her what I did for a living. Melinda Kidder seemed interested in what I did, and wanted to start her own Private Investigation business; so I showed her where to get an insurance bond that was required by the City of Columbia back then, where to apply, introduced her to a few attorneys, and helped her along. I have to admit, I had my reservations; I told my fiancé that she would probably cause me a few problems because she was a short, fat, lesbian and card carrying man-hater. Okay, now I seem mean, cruel, even discriminatory; don’t I? Well, just hold on a second. Not all short, fat lesbians are man-haters, and not all man-haters are short, fat lesbians, and there is certainly nothing wrong or bad with or about being short, over-weight, or a lesbian. I think a person should be free to choose their sexual orientation, I don’t think a person can control their height, and I think a person’s weight is what it is; but when you have a female that openly hates men (except for the men that have female qualities that she can like), and you have these other descriptors that also illustrate something about her personality, then it is worth mentioning in a blog post like this. So, when you have a short, fat lesbian that is a man-hater; any man that associated with her will always have a potential problem, and what happened between Melinda Kidder and I is a classic illustration of that! If you, the reader ever wonder what Melinda Kidder’s problem was with me after she got into the Private Investigation business; just ask her about this single statement listed below that she made in a letter to me in 2010:
I’ve considered whether its jealousy on my part, and perhaps I do have some jealousy that you might have more business coming in than I do.
JEALOUSY is a terrible thing. Only pathetic people would rather sit around and be jealous than to actually be what they are jealous of. Remember this; better to be the one that inspires jealousy than to be the one that is inspired by jealousy!
Just as early as 3 months ago, I tried to offer Melinda Kidder some work, think of it as an “Olive Branch”; and Melinda Kidder would not sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement; which is standard in my company before I sub-contract any work. I was going to give Melinda Kidder some of my “over-flow”; it was about 6 cases. Melinda Kidder turned the work down, and then immediately ran to one of my former employees that had bought a court action against me (THAT I JUST WON) and made her believe that I was trying to have her investigated. Melinda Kidder and one of her “cohorts” on the west coast also tried to cause some problems with some of the tools that I subscribe to in my line of work. None of this has worked, but it was not for lack of trying on her part.
Melinda Kidder had to testify in the civil action between myself and my former employee, and fortunately for her she had just enough decency in her to tell the truth under oath; although I must admit I was shocked when she did. My attorney was going to “obliterate” her on the stand, but after we saw that she actually told the truth under oath, my attorney and I made a decision not to bring out the fact that Melinda Kidder suffers from memory lapses. Just ask her. Ask Melinda if she did not get sick about 10 years ago, and if her illness did not cause her short term and long term memory problems. To any attorney that ever has a case against her, just ask her while she is on the stand about any illness she might of had, what the effects were, and if it affected her memory, and if it STILL affects her memory. Melinda Kidder does not make a good witness in any case due to her illness imposed memory problems. ATTORNEYS TAKE NOTE! I am happy to be a witness that Melinda Kidder personally told me that she contracted an illness, that she had to have a brain operation, and that it caused her and still does cause her short term and long term memory loss problems.
This is Melinda Kidder and I outside of my office back in the days she was playing along and being nice to me to “get what she could get”:
See? Short and Fat!
Now, remember that this is the Private Investigator that claims to run a company that touts having “The Investigators With Integrity”.
Stay tuned, there will be an entire series of articles on people like this, that have tried to damage my business to promote their own, and how they conspired to do so. Hopefully, this blog will give you a good idea of who to steer clear of when the need arises to do business in my profession.
Just Can’t Beat DADDY!
Okay, the title is a little “out there”. But this blog post and the series that follows will be about several people that got their start in the PI Business from me. Then after they thought they had learned all they could from me, they tried to take my company down by lying to the court system and trying to get an order of protection against me, that could have cause my PI License to be revoked. So, these people are kind of like the children that tried so hard to take “Daddy” down. What they don’t seem to know is that they will always have to go where “Daddy” has already been!
There will be no doubt that I will be blogging about low-life’s, thieves, morally bankrupt and ethically challenged people, attorneys with no ethics that are willing to ignore truth for some type of a benefit for their self. You will see how a group of people can be bought together in a common goal because they all have one thing in common; they are BAD people! You will now be a witness, firsthand to how dishonorable, unethical, immoral people sometimes come together to try to damage decent people.
These low-life’s that I am going to blog about ALL got their start in the PI Business because of me! And they won’t deny it, because I have the proof from admissions in email to proof of where they started working. I trained most of them as Private Investigators. These people that I am going to be blogging about are some of the most dishonorable, immoral. unethical people that I have ever had the great displeasure of knowing. Anyone that would LIE TO THE COURTS and ABUSE THE PROCESS OF LAW for a financial gain, has NO HONOR! Anyone that can partner up with someone that can do that, is just as bad! If you live in Harrisburg, MO., Columbia, MO., and/or Mexico, MO.; you are going to want to read this blog and learn all about these people. You may even already know them, but I can assure you that you don’t know them as well as you will if you just keep reading this blog! I think when I am finished with this blog series, you will want to think twice before doing business with any of these people.
So, in summary the title of this post kind of starts off and sets the tone for a series on some of the people that actually tried to come into my company, learn from me, and then try to betray me and destroy my company by abusing the process of law and lying to the court system to try to get an order of protection against me that could have negatively impacted my company in a major way.
This is just a preamble. In a few days I am going to introduce each one of these slime-bags and show you pictures of them, and their slime-bag attorney who is already known for “trading out legal services with STRIPPERS” in Columbia, MO. Yes, we are going to take a good look at his old, white, wrinkly ass too, and his secretary. Right now though, I will leave you with this:
SO FOR NOW, LETS JUST SAY “YOU JUST CAN’T BEAT DADDY”!
Okay, one last thought. If you are wondering if I am angry, frustrated, or upset… YES! I am! I was lied on, plotted against, lied to, and a group of people tried to take down my company that I have spent twelve years building, because they don’t want to EARN, they want to try to STEAL! But… Let this blog, the lawsuits I am getting ready to file, along with the complaints that I am going to file against attorneys with the Missouri O.C.D.C. serve as a reminder that I do NOT handle problems with violence or inappropriate actions. I use whatever legal means are available to me to handle my problems. I use my right to free speech by blogging, I use my right to remedy damages in the courts with lawsuits, I use my right to file complaints with the appropriate agencies to handle wrongs committed against me by professionals that should know better. I DO NOT waste my time doing stupid, thuggish things like damaging people’s property.
RMRI, INC.’S NEW TECHNOLOGY IS PASSING ALL TESTS!
We Are In The Age Of Information
Last week I blogged about some new technology that RMRI, Inc. now has. This technology is proprietary to RMRI, Inc., so I won’t be very specific about the technology itself, however I would like to update my readership on the effectiveness of the technology based on test results at RMRI, Inc.
Not only have I been impressed with this new technology; but so has the people that have contacted me and requested that I use it to help them in their cases. I have heard nothing but good feedback from the people that have utilized this product to enhance their investigations.
In the most recent case, I was contacted by a Private Sector Fugitive Recovery Agent to assist him in locating a fugitive from justice that has a verified warrant out for their arrest. Due to the fact that this Fugitive Recovery Operation is underway as I write this; I can’t give specifics about it. I will follow up with specifics about it in a later post. However I can say this; the Private Sector Fugitive Recovery Agent contacted me at 9:00 PM on January 8, 2013 (last night) and by 9:30 PM on January 8, 2013 (30 minutes later) the Private Sector Fugitive Recovery Agent had a verified location on his Fugitive From Justice and is now making all of the arrangements to recovery this fugitive. This was all conducted from my computer at my desk. After weeks of field work, interviews, and “Address Checks” to no avail; RMRI, Inc. and the new technology that we can deploy to gather critical information on a subject was able to locate this fugitive within thirty (30) minutes!
In another case RMRI, Inc. was contacted by an attorney to run a background check on a subject. The attorney reported that she had previously had a computerized background check conducted on her subject; and did not get any current information back about her subject; but did get a good amount of historical data back pertaining to her subject. I used RMRI, Inc.’s new technology to run this attorney’s subject for background information, compiled the report along with some visual data graphs that are generated by the technology and sent all of the results over to the attorney. Within one (1) hour I received a phone call from the attorney; she said that she had never seen a report like this, and she was just “blown away” as to how much more information was found on this report in comparison to the reports she got back from ordering a Computerized Background Check from another company. She stated that she felt like she knew everything there was to know about her subject, and that now she had information that she could actually use in her case. This attorney stated that she would be calling RMRI, Inc. for all of her information needs, from this point forward.
In a third case, an Investigator from Maryland named Fred Schroeder contacted RMRI, Inc. about running some information on a few subjects of an investigation he was conducting. Within one (1) hour the Investigator had several reports pertinent to his investigation, and he was also highly impressed. This Investigator indicated that the data that he received answered a question that he would have had to research prior to receiving this report. This Investigator also indicated that he would be using RMRI, inc. for all of his information needs in the future. Below are Fred’s words as quoted from an email he replied to RMRI, Inc. with after receiving these reports:
Good Morning, Ricky.
I have finally had the chance to look over the “reports” you supplied the other day regarding our current investigation.
I am Totally Impressed with the Comprehensive Information contained in your reports. I have been a Defense Based Private Investigator for 30 years and have closely watched the evolution of Information Reports and you absolutely hit a Home Run. As a matter of fact, your report answered the next question I was going to research.The problem I’ve been having with “reports” is that maybe 10% of the information is “Real” and the other 90% based on “Speculation and Cross Over Information” gathered from other Data Bases.
Your Reports supplied 60% Real And Useful Information. We look forward to a continuing relationship.
Regards & Thank You.
Fred
Frederick W. Schroeder, 6th
Schroeder & Associates Investigative Services.
http://Schroeder6th.com
Folks; I think RMRI, Inc. has something here that can benefit the Legal and Investigative Community alike. Of course, as I have stated before there are limitations. If the data you need is not aggregated on-line; we will not be able to get this data, and there are also some limitations as to what various states make available on-line. Barring these limitations; I simply have not seen and do not know of any other source that will pull out the type of information from the Internet and compile it in as comprehensive and easy to read report with good, useful graphics as what RMRI, Inc. has rolled out. The cost of this information is a little higher than what would be paid for standard database results; however when one considers that value of having actionable intelligence that one can rely on; I believe the cost is competitive with standard database results that contain a lot of “canned data”.
Ricky B. Gurley.
Confidentiality: Good P.I.’s Remain Silent About Their Cases And Clients!
I have been on the Internet for a very long time, probably longer than most Private Investigators have. I am always amazed at the information one can find on the Internet. Most of the information on the Internet is information that we freely give about ourselves. Between social networks, email, and the ”deep web”, we can find out almost anything about anyone. It has become accepted and even expected that the consumer will inadvertently give out private information about their self on the Internet in current times. But what about Private Investigators? One would think that a Private Investigator would be cautious of what they allow others to see about them and their business on the Internet. Sadly, this does not seem to be the case.
The Private Investigation business is a funny business, while the Private Investigator has to be able to keep his or her case information confidential, he or she also has to find an effective way to advertise or market on the Internet these days, also. Often times Private Investigators blur the lines between marketing and giving out confidential information on the Internet. I was amazed eight years ago when I found a naked picture of one Private Investigator on the Internet. Not surprisingly this Private Investigator was the very person responsible for their naked picture being on the Internet. If this Private Investigator had not sent their naked picture to other unsuspecting people of the opposite sex in email, their picture would have never been found on the Internet. This is just an example of how careless one Private Investigator had become with their information. But there are literally hundreds of examples like this where Private Investigators have shared a little too much on the Internet.
We all remember the Baby Lisa Irwin Case, and one Private Investigator’s attempt to grab some attention by proclaiming how he was working this case, then “backpedaling” and stating that he was blogging this case as an “Investigative Journalist”, right? Look at all of the information and inferences one could make from that situation. First, the question comes to mind; why wouldn’t anyone actually hire him to work this case? Second, one has to wonder was this Private Investigator using his fee based, proprietary databases to cull information on this case, while he was clearly not working as a hired Private Investigator conducting a Private Investigation? Third, was it appropriate to share the results of his investigation with the public, while the Police were conducting an investigation into the disappearance of this infant, if he was not hired by anyone to conduct this investigation? It is one thing to conduct an investigation as a hired Private Investigator where you have an obligation to your client to investigate the case and keep the information that you gather confidential; it is entirely another thing to possibly interfere with a Police investigation by conducting an investigation for the sake of blogging about your findings for a little media attention. And to this day, this Private Investigator has put himself in the unenviable position of not being able to prove that he did one single thing that helped in locating this child; the only thing he did do was make himself look like an attention starved, low-rent Private Investigator that would do anything for a little media attention.
RMRI, Inc. works a good deal of very sensitive cases that go to court and can be “life altering” to our clients if certain critical information were to come out about our cases. RMRI, Inc. has a few hard and fast rules and protocols about how we conduct business and what we choose to let the public know about our business. First, the ONLY time we are working a case is when we have a paying client, we don’t work cases for free in the hopes of getting some media attention. In all cases that go to court, we enter into a contract with the client. If the case is something simple, where a contract is not necessary (such as: serving a summons) we get an email acknowledgement or an on-line acknowledgement that we are working for the client and that the client expects any information we find in the course of doing our work to remain confidential. We NEVER speak to anyone outside of the client and our team members about an active and ongoing case. Even after a case is completely finished we have a ninety (90) day wait time before we can even acknowledge that we had any involvement with the case whatsoever, and then after that ninety (90) days we can not mention anything that identifies the case we can just speak in general terms about the case. Our approach is quite simple; “we don’t want attention, we want to be paid”. We liken our work to that of any other job, we “punch in” and work, we “punch out” and go home, and we collect our pay. We work to make a living, not for glamour and fame.
While it is true that you can find RMRI, Inc.’s company name in certain publications for attorneys and certain news papers and magazines, what you wont find is any specific information about cases we work, such as names, dates, and specific locations. While you might see a mentioning of cases on our website, what you will not see is any specific mentioning of the details of these cases unless they are over seven (7) years old. While you might see a Facebook Page for RMRI, Inc., what you won’t see is any mention of a case we are working. We make tremendous efforts and take great pains at RMRI, Inc. not to blur the lines between advertising and giving out even a hint of information about our clients and our cases. RMRI, Inc. is not so desperate for attention that we are willing to forsake our client’s privacy for some media attention.
RMRI, Inc. is made up of two (2) licensed Private Investigators, one (1) Pending Licensed Private Investigator, one (1) Process Server, two (2) Technical Consultants qualified as Expert Witnesses, and one (1) Secretary and all of our staff have committed to keeping all case and client data at RMRI, Inc. confidential. Each member is well aware that intentionally “leaking” case and/or client information outside of the confines of RMRI, Inc. is grounds for termination and possible civil action.
In Summary
A Private Investigator’s ability to keep his or her case and client information is paramount. Confidentiality in the Private Investigation Business is a justified expectation of the client. A successful and confident Private Investigator feels no need to boast about their cases or their clients. Confidentiality is the hallmark of any successful Private investigation Business. If you don’t understand confidentiality, you don’t understand the Private Investigation Business!
Private Investigator Databases Are Just Tools; Nothing More!
About a month ago I was contacted by an attorney to locate a person for him. The attorney is a good friend of mine, and someone that I have known for quite a while. Because this is attorney is a friend of mine that I am sure would help me out if I ever encountered some legal problems, I did this locate as a courtesy to the attorney. With all of the information that is available to the consumer today and the additional amount of information available to Private Investigators today; a locate is really not that difficult, or at least it is not as difficult as it used to be but it can be time consuming.
Naturally the first thing any Private Investigator would do to locate a person is to start looking around on the Internet for information about the person, start running database reports and generate as much raw information about the subject as he or she can. Sometimes the raw data that is generated about a person can be quite extensive. The average consumer does not have a clue as to what it takes to locate a person that is hard to find, whether it be because the person has moved several times and their information has changed several times or because the person simply does not want to be found. It is entirely possible to generate fifty to seventy five pages of raw data on the subject the Private Investigator is trying to find. Any half-smart Private Investigator knows that there is a percentage of information that is generated from this Internet research that will be inaccurate. This is why this raw data has to be gone through with a “fine-toothed comb”; to weed out the inaccurate information and keep the accurate information and this can take hours and sometimes even days.
So, when I started to work my locate I generated over ninety pages of raw data. I had old addresses, old phone numbers, relatives, associates, email addresses, and more. The process for weeding out the inaccurate information requires talking to people and confirming the information that you have. In my case I would say that over seventy percent of the information I had was either not accurate, or “stale”. The thirty percent of the information that was accurate was not useful in actually getting in touch with the subject. I did have two addresses in Ozark, MO. that looked like they could be where the subject was living, so I told the attorney about them. The attorney was going to be in that area of Missouri so he said he’d go by the addresses and see if the subject lived at these addresses. The attorney reported back that the addresses were not current and asked me to continue on. So, I ran some reports on a different database and sifted through these reports and came up with an address that I had not seen on any of the other reports I had previously ran, but I did not have a phone number for the address. So, here is where it is time to get some field work done.
Now, the newest address that I had was in Springfield, MO., and I am in Columbia, MO.; I am approximately one hundred and eighty miles from Springfield, MO. In this case it occurs to me that it might be more economical to sub-contract this address check to a Private Investigator in Springfield, MO.; enter Heather Snow.
I contacted Heather Snow of Southwest Investigating Agency. Heather and I spoke and I told her what I needed and sent her all of the research that I had conducted up to the point that I had contacted her. Heather had just suffered a terrible family tragedy, but she still took this case and charged me an extremely reasonable fee. Within just a few days after receiving my payment, she found the person i was looking for. Heather Snow put several hours of work into making this happen, she went to the address I had once and nobody was home. Heather Snow then made a second trip to the address and spoke with a young man at the address who knew the subject and called him to meet with Heather. Heather Snow waited for the subject to show up, got all of the information from him that she could get, and then put him in touch with me. Heather Snow worked diligently, professionally, and she produced an effective result for me, at a most reasonable fee. Below are Heather Snow’s contact details:
Southwest Investigating Agency
305 E Walnut St, Ste 314, Springfield, MO 65806
(417) 866-1756
I would highly recommend Heather Snow to anyone that needs a Private Investigator in Springfield, MO.; she is a worker! As it happens, Heather Snow’s father was a Private Investigator for thirty seven years and Heather grew up in the Private Investigator business; one could say that Heather was “groomed” to be a Private Investigator. I was completely satisfied with the service that Heather provided, Heather produced quick, effective, and accurate results, and she knew exactly how to handle this case. Heather Snow is your Private Investigator connection in the Springfield, Ozark, and Lake of The Ozarks area. I would not hire any other Private Investigator in that area other than Heather Snow.
There is a lesson here too. As one can see by reading the title of this post, the information that we have at our fingertips in this information age makes cases like this a little less difficult to work; but it is not a “case solver”, it is only a tool. There are many Private Investigators out there that believe that database information is the be all and end all to working a case; and they would be wrong. More often than not no matter how much information you get from the Internet and the various databases you may have access to you will have to confirm that information and often enough you will have to “put boots on the ground” and do some field work to complete your case. So, remember that Database are just a tool, you still have to investigate your case!
Baby Lisa Part (5): Is Amateur Hour Ending?
Earlier today I saw a post on Facebook that was interesting to me; because it raises a lot of questions and seems to prove what I personally have always known. Below is the post that I saw on Facebook; I took a screenshot of it:
Ron Rugen On His Role In The Lisa Irwin Case
Now it has never been a secret that I am very critical of Mr. Rugen. Personally speaking, I have never believed him to be an intelligent or even a competent Private Investigator. My opinion is based off of many years of being able to observe what he has done in my chosen profession, the Private Investigation business, watching his posts on private forums for Private Investigators, and observing some of his less than intelligent opinions on these forums. The only types of cases that I have ever seen or know of that Mr. Rugen has ever been able to claim any success at is serving subpoenas and judgment collections; which really do not require much skill.
It appears that Mr. Rugen is “giving up” on the Lisa Irwin case? Mr. Rugen also claims that he has been working this case as a “Investigative Reporter”, but more accurately as just an “attention seeking blogger”. The question that comes to my mind about Mr. Rugen claiming that he is not working this case as a Private Investigator is; why not? But the answer seems to be simple and even admitted by Mr. Rugen himself and that is that nobody will hire him. Generally speaking, if you read the Facebook pages regarding Mr. Rugen you will see that he is not held in high esteem, nor is he thought of as competent. It seems logical that the people with an interest in this case that would have a motivation to hire a Private Investigator in this case we are discussing here also read Facebook, and have probably made some calls to see what kind of a Private Investigator Mr. Rugen is. Going off of what Mr. Rugen has been saying, that nobody has hired him; one can only believe that Mr. Rugen’s “reviews” must have been less than stellar.
Mr. Rugen states that he has “put aside paid work that could be done” to work this case. Does anyone REALLY believe that? Does anyone REALLY believe that a struggling Private Investigator, who can not keep a girlfriend or a wife that would add to the household income, that could not pay his rent when he lived in Columbia, MO. and still owes his automobile mechanic $300.00 to this day, would turn down money to work this case? I think that the more likely scenario is that Mr. Rugen did not have any paid work to begin with. But lets say for a minute that he did have paid work coming in and chose not to do it to work this case; would anyone call that “smart business”? I mean, I do understand how Mr. Rugen’s dreams of fame motivated by having a few short clips of him on various News Stations might make one think that this could “drum up business” for him. But the fact remains, no matter how much publicity you get, nobody willfully pays for incompetence!
Now another issue that we can see from reading Mr. Rugen’s posts is that Mr. Rugen claims that since he has not been working as a Private Investigator on this case and he has been working in the capacity of an “Investigative Reporter” he is not bound by any confidentiality or general confidentiality implications. While this may be generally accepted, it is not an ethical stance by someone that is a state licensed Private Investigator. But there is an question that the general public may not be aware of, but another Private Investigator would be aware of; and that question is: Did Mr. Rugen use any databases that he has access to for Private Investigators ONLY to work this case which by Mr. Rugen’s own admission was not a Private Investigation? If Mr. Rugen used any of the databases for Private Investigators only, to work a non-Private Investigation case; then he may be in violation of his agreements with any of the database providers that he is signed up with. This is an interesting question, indeed.
Overall, Mr. Rugen is showing us all what I already knew. He has not made one single inch of headway in solving this case. He has not generated any useful leads or data the entire time he has been on this case. And he has somehow managed to upset the very people that he was supposed to be gaining rapport with on this case. Yes, it is long overdue for Mr. Rugen to take his attorney friend’s advice (Anthony) and just throw in the towel. While it might be a bitter pill for Mr. Rugen to swallow, my thoughts are that he should just admit to himself that he is in fact an incompetent Private Investigator and go back to the “easy money” that does not take a high level of intelligence to make; serving subpoenas and collecting judgments. Doing this may actually serve Mr. Rugen well. The fact is, that Mr. Rugen has done nothing but “spin his wheels” and at the very best got himself a little publicity on this case; meanwhile REAL Private Investigation Agencies (like RMRI, Inc.) are doing what they are supposed to be doing and working REAL private Investigation cases from PAYING CLIENTS, so they can pay their bills and support their families.
Well, maybe we can all breathe a little easier now? Perhaps Mr. Rugen has at least admitted that he is way out of his depth on a case that takes a REAL Private Investigator to even have any hope of solving?We’ll see……….
Baby Lisa Part (4): Amateur Hour!
Well my audience will just have to forgive me; but it is time to say what needs to be said. There are always a few “media vultures” out there in the world, and we can see at least one showing up every day here on the Lisa Irwin Case.
I have had a pretty busy week, working PAYING cases, so I have not had much time to blog about this case in the past five days. Not to brag, but last week was somewhere around a $10,000.00 week for me. It is always important to take care of your paying clients first, and then focus on the topic that interest you. I have had to focus on paying clients. Apparently not all Private Investigators have paying clients to focus on; so they can try to play “Commentator” on cases like the one we are discussing here. Tonight I want to talk about how a “mediocre at best” Private Investigator can harm a case like this, and how a good Private Investigator can help a case like this.
I suppose the first place to start is with the approach that should be taken when working any case as a Private Investigator. One of the most important things to remember is that when it comes to how a Private Investigator works a case, the approach in at least one aspect is much like how a Doctor approaches a patient’s care; First Do No Harm! Often times in the Private Investigation business it is just as important to know what NOT to do as it is to know what to do. If you are a Private Investigator, the “Do No Harm Approach” requires one to be honest with theirself. A good Private Investigator’s first question to himself or herself should be: “Am I qualified to handle this case”? Think of it like this, you would not perform heart surgery on a patient if you did not have the necessary skills, training, and credentials to do so; would you? And if all you have done as a Private Investigator is serve subpoenas and conduct some “cheating spouse surveillance”, what makes you think you are qualified to even give any intelligent commentary on a Child Abduction Case, much less participate in such a case? I take exception to how one of my colleagues seems to want to insert himself into this case and act as if he is some kind of authority on the Lisa Irwin Abduction. What he is doing is selfish, harmful, and has the potential to take away valuable media resources from where they need to be. I will first call your attention to a post made by Mr. Ronald Rugen on 10/25/2011 which is pictured below:
Ron Rugen on Lisa Irwin "Defense"
Kris Cantil is a highly experienced Criminal Defense Investigator from Utah, that has spend more time adjusting her make-up in a courthouse bathroom than Mr. Rugen has in a courthouse. She is well qualified to understand the intricacies of a criminal defense case, and to certainly understand what a criminal defense case is. Click on her name and you can see her qualifications. Kris Cantil works for Kane Consulting and her question to Mr.Rugen is important and “dead on”. Folks, the attorneys working for Lisa Irwin’s parents are NOT a “Defense Team” at this point in time, they are simply trying to keep the focus on looking for the person that abducted Lisa Irwin, going on the assertion that the child was in fact abducted. despite what the media wants to title the attorney or attorneys here; there can be no defense without a prosecution and there has not even been an arrest made yet much less a prosecution. The harm in making statements like this is that it gives the public the inaccurate illusion that the parents of Lisa Irwin are the culprits in her disappearance. Now while I am not ready to say that Lisa Irwin’s parents had nothing to do with her disappearance, I am certainly not willing to point the finger at them just yet. The fact is that there just is not enough evidence to make a determination either way at this point in time. Attorney Cyndy Short was right when she said that “this is how people get wrongfully convicted”, these types of presumptuous statements make the public think that there is something that they don’t know but the person making this statement knows that may indicate guilt, which in turn causes public pressure to be put on the Police, which in turn often times impedes their investigation. This can all have the effect of making people rush to judgment in a case where evidence needs to be dispassionately analyzed. These cases have to be worked with a high degree of objectivity, which apparently Mr. Rugen does not have:
Ron Rugen Admits He Has Not Been Objective
it is not hard to see from reading Mr. Rugen’s comment above that by his own admission he has not been very objective in regards to this case. he has “jumped to conclusions”, and implied that Lisa Irwin’s parents had something to do with the disappearance of their child. This is NOT what a good Private Investigator would do. A good Private Investigator would check out everything, including the parents; but he or she would be objective and receptive to reasonable and logical scenarios so as to not easily dismiss something that might be the key to solving this case.
I have personally worked two (2) Child Abduction Cases, and successfully concluded each one within one (1) week. Now, I will admit that both of these cases were non-custodial parental abduction cases; one (1) from Los Angeles, California over seven years ago for an attorney named Shirlee Bliss and one (1) here locally where we recovered the child in Kansas City, MO for the father named Orlando Hayes. These cases are easier than a “Stranger Abduction Case”, none the less they do require objectivity, professionalism, and the ability to keep a “low profile”. My Lead Investigator, Karen Giboney has worked multiple non-custodial parental abductions and “stranger abduction cases” Someone should as Mr. Rugen how many of these cases he has worked?
The media can be a useful tool in helping to solve cases like this. The media gets the word out so that citizens can be on the look out for the child and so that if there is someone out there that knows something they will know who to call and talk to about it. It is self serving and selfish for a Private Investigator to try to inject himself into a case like this for the sake of trying to get some publicity and attention. Someone should ask Mr. Rugen who hired him to work on this case?
Folks, it is important that you don’t give this mediocre at best Private Investigator the attention he is seeking, and you stay focused on the important media aspects of this case. Follow what the media is reporting about possible sightings. Follow what the media is reporting about person’s of interest. Keep your eyes and ears open for information that may relate to those topics, instead of following an “armchair quarterback” that serves subpoenas for a living and has high aspirations of being some kind of a recognized news commentator on cases that he has no experience in what so ever. If I had experience that Mr. Rugen has in the Private Investigation Business, I’d stay out of the media and keep my opinions to myself for being afraid that those opinions might come back to haunt me later on. PICTURE that, if you will…….
Ricky B. Gurley.
Baby Lisa Part (3): Body Decomposition; More FACTS!
When researching a topic such as the one we are discussing here it is important to find the right people to question about certain issues that come up in these cases. Every Private Investigator has to have “Go To Guys”; people that specialize in areas of of investigation and are considered experts in their fields. I have a my own group of “Go To Guys” that I request consultations with in cases where I need to know something, or I may need to be able to refer an expert witness to an attorney. If it is financial crimes and fraud, I call Bill Branscum. If it is due diligence , criminal defense or civil litigation I call Sue Sarkis. If it is cyber investigations or more specifically Computer Forensics, although I have a well qualified staff, I still call Brian Ingram. These are people that I know are qualified, tried, and proven in their fields of expertise and I know I can rely on them to give me accurate information. I have several other “Go To Guys” that I also call upon, and this network of people enables me to be just a little more effective at what I do. When it comes to Death Investigations, I call Dean Beers. Dean Beers has an extensive resume, and his credentials, qualifications, and experience are second to none in the field of Death Investigations. Below is a small sampling of Dean’s qualifications and experience:
Dean Beers’s Summary
As a Certified Legal Investigator, I am very passionate about legal investigations and working with my clients to provide the best information and tools in advocating for our mutual client.
I formed my legal investigative agency in 1987, quickly becoming a leading and innovative provider of investigative, legal and trial support services. I left the private sector in late 2005 to accept a full-time position as a deputy coroner / death investigator with the Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Office, after graduating with honors from the Weld County Law Enforcement Academy. In late 2008 I returned to the private sector, focusing on Personal Injury, Negligence & Death, as well as Criminal Defense. This is built on my extensive education, experience and training in the private sector, as well as my internship, training and job experience at both the Larimer and Weld County Medical Examiners’ Offices.
Services include incident and scene investigations, causation of injuries and death, photography, videography, interviews, evidence collection, records and reports reviews, statement analysis, and many other related services. I have extensive education, training and experience in many investigative disciplines, and have also lectured extensively, written many articles and a book on individual locate investigations.
We are centrally located approximately one hour north of Denver, CO and one hour south of Cheyenne WY. We are pleased to bring our expertise and passion to the front range investigative and legal communities. We welcome your inquiries and the opportunity to assist you.
I am a member of the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado (PPIAC – senior), National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI), Colorado State Investigators Association (CSIA), Colorado Criminal Defense Bar (CCDB – investigator/affiliate), International Association of Identification (IAI / RMDIAI), and National Association of Medical Examiners (The NAME).
Specialties
Extensive experience is in death investigation and related forensics. My specific areas are medical records review, autopsy protocol and report reviews, death and injury evaluation and causation, all incident and crime scenes, equivocal death, photography and videography, statement analysis and fingerprints lifting and comparison. In addition, we provide Individual Locates, Address Verifications, Assets & Liabilities Records, Civil and Criminal Histories and Complete Personal Profiles.
Dean Beers’s Experience
Chairman of the Board
Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado
Legal Services industry
November 2010 – Present (1 year)
Excited to lead the board in the continued forward professionalism of the members of the PPIAC. Our current professional licensing effort has gained momentum and is moving forward!
Region 5A Director – NCISS
National Council of Investigation and Security Services
Legal Services industry
September 2010 – Present (1 year 2 months)
Regional Director for CO WY NE & AZ for NCISS – the voice of professional investigators in DC. Duties include membership communication, recruitment and keeping our members informed.
Region 6 CLI Representative
CLI Committee – Region 6
Legal Services industry
July 2010 – Present (1 year 4 months)
I am the Region 6 Representative on the Certified Legal Investigator Committee for the National Association of Legal Investigators. I will be working with other CLI representatives and the CLI committee to further this exceptional certification and our profession. Region 6 includes CO, MT, WY, NM, AZ, UT and ID. There are six CLIs in the region.
Expert – Forensic Investigation, Pattern Injury Analysis and Investigative Protocols
Forensic Investigators of Colorado LLC (Self-employed)
Self-Employed; Legal Services industry
April 2009 – Present (2 years 7 months)
Qualified in Colorado district & county courts in Forensic Investigation, Pattern Injury Analysis and Investigative Protocols. Expert Consultant: crime scene, pattern injury, fingerprint comparison, investigative protocols, forensic photography and blood spatter.
Certified Legal Investigator / Owner
Associates in Forensic Investions LLC (Self-employed)
Self-Employed; Legal Services industry
October 1987 – Present (24 years 1 month)
I have been a Professional Investigator since 1987. I have extensive experience in individual backgrounds and locates, as well as current education, training and experience in Personal Injury, Negligence & Death, as well as Criminal Defense supplemented by my recent position with the Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Sr member
PPIAC
Legal Services industry
2008 – 2010 (2 years)
Deputy Coroner / Death Investigator
Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Office
Government Administration industry
September 2002 – August 2008 (6 years)
Beginning with training and internship and progressing into part-time then full-time, after graduating the Weld County Law Enforcement Academy. We were responsible for responding to and investigating deaths and incident scenes, assisting with autopsies and complete follow-up investigation.
Forensic Autopsy Assistant
Larimer and Weld Counties Medical Examiner’s Offices; Colorado Pathology Associates
Legal Services industry
September 2002 – August 2008 (6 years)
Assisted with forensic, medical and hospital autopsies.
Deputy Coroner / Investigator
Weld County Medical Examiner’s Office
Legal Services industry
January 2003 – June 2005 (2 years 6 months)
Certified Medicolegal Death Investigator and Deputy Coroner
As we can see, Dean Beers is well qualified to speak with us on the topic of Human Body Decomposition. I wanted to explore this topic a little because there is some debate on the accuracy of the “hit” that a Cadaver Dog made on the scent of a deceased human body in the Irwin home. I first want to understand the process of Human Body Decomposition, so I called Dean and asked him if he would spend a little time explaining this to me along with any experiences he may have had with Cadaver Dogs. I got a good education from Dean, and I think my readership here may also find that they will learn some interesting things here too.
First, I want to point out some facts that I learned from Dean; then I will give the audience here the entire audio file of the conversation that I had with Dean Beers.
FACTS
(1) The human body starts to decompose almost immediately after death.
(2) The time frame in which a human body can be in a state of decomposition before a Cadaver Dog can pick up the scent of decomposition varies, but it can be as little as one (1) hour, and in almost all cases a Cadaver Dog can pick up the scent of decomposition within three (3) hours after death.
(3) Cadaver Dogs can detect “the scent of death” from bodies buried underground and from bodies that are under water.
(4) The smell of a human body in advanced stages of decomposition is so unique that a person can smell the scent just one time and remember it for years.
Now here is my conversation with Dean Beers on this topic in it’s entirety: Dean Beers on Human Body Decomposition
Dean also wants everyone to have a clear understanding of what is meant by decomposition from a medical perspective; so here is a quote from Dean that will help you to better understand how a Cadaver Dog can pick up the scent of a decomposing body even in a place where it has been for only one (1) hour to three (3) hours, but has also been moved away from after said period of time:
The process starts almost immediately after death with biological changes, causing build up of internal gases and bacteria. This can be in the first hour and is dependent on environment, decedent’s health, and chemistry (i.e. toxicology can have a role). These seemingly imperceptible changes are what develop the odor that can be left behind after a body is removed or can lead the Cadaver Dog to the body.
From listening to this audio file, you should gain a little more clarity on the probability of a Cadaver Dog making a “hit” on “the scent of death” in the Irwin home. It would seem that it was entirely possible for the Cadaver Dog to have made the “hit” on the scent of a decomposing body in the Irwin home.
I hope this is helpful to the public, and my readership gains just a little more of an understanding of the investigation into the disappearance of Baby Lisa Irwin.
Thank you all for your time.
Ricky B. Gurley
Baby Lisa Part (1): Jealousy and Shameless Self Promotion?
We have all seen the news here in Missouri and I think we all know who “Baby Lisa” is by now; but for those that don’t below are some news links for you to read:
Google News Article About Baby Lisa Irwin
Eyewitnesses In Baby Lisa Irwin Case
Cadaver Dogs Make Hit In Baby Lisa Irwin Case
Now after reading the articles and becoming familiar with this case, one can see that it is a case that has captured a lot of people’s attention. This case is getting quite a bit of publicity and it is certainly considered a high-profile case. This is also a prime case for a good Private Investigator to join in on and work on behalf of the family. This is a good case for a Private Investigator. And we actually have a person that is working this case for the family in what the media has characterized as a Private Investigator. Mr. Bill Stanton is in Kansas City and working this case. Mr. Stanton is from New York, New York, with a background in Law Enforcement and Private Security. While Mr. Stanton was working in the Private Security Sector he did a lot of work for the various News Media Agencies and undoubtedly garnered some contacts in the media that may be very useful in the Baby Lisa Irwin Case. Mr. Stanton seems to be a good fit for a case like this, in which the media can be utilized to help recover Baby Lisa Irwin. So, it sounds like we have a decent person, well suited for this type of work on the case.
But…. Some people just can’t leave the best possible situation alone. And some people don’t like to see others get spotlight that they think they are so richly entitled to… There has been several complaints here in Missouri about Mr. Stanton working this case simply because he is not licensed as a Private Investigator here in Missouri. One person in particular has been very verbal about this case, Private Investigator Ron Rugen from Kansas City, MO. I personally know Mr. Rugen, and I can tell you that Mr. Rugen is an EXCELLENT Process Server. He can deliver a subpoena to a person tha tis a party to a legal case like nobody’s business! Mr. Rugen has apparently had some problems with Mr. Stanton working this case involving Baby Lisa Irwin, and has been quite vocal about it. Now, Mr. Rugen contends that he is legally obligated to report Mr. Stanton to our Private Investigator Licensing Board here in Missouri if Mr. Stanton does not have a Private Investigator’s License. Mr. Rugen is effectively saying that he has no choice but to report Mr. Stanton because he suspects that Mr. Stanton is practicing as a Private Investigator without a license. Let’s examine this for a minute. First let me give you a frame of reference for the rules and statutes here in Missouri that regulates the Private Investigation Business. Below is a link to the rules and statutes that regulate the Private Investigation Business here in Missouri.:
Missouri PI Board Rules and Statutes
The rules for reporting unlicensed activity fall under 20 CSR 2234-7.010 Code of Conduct. Now lets examine the rules for reporting unlicensed activity:
If you will look on page three (3) of the Code of Conduct you will see this if you read carefully:
(C) Aiding Unlicensed Practice.
1. Private investigators shall neither permit nor suffer any person with whom they are associated to practice the profession without being properly licensed.
2. Private investigators shall promptly report to the board any person who appears to be unlawfully practicing the profession without a license.
A. Private investigators may consult with the person who appears to be unlawfully practicing the profession without a license regarding the circumstances, and if reasonably satisfied that no violation has occurred, choose not to notify the board.
B. Private investigators need not investigate the conduct of the person who appears to be unlawfully practicing the profession without a license in such circumstances. Reporting the conduct to the board discharges the private investigator’s duty under this section.
C. An anonymous complaint to the board does not comply with the provisions of this section.
D. No action will be taken by the board against a private investigator who has made a report pursuant to the provisions of this section unless malice is shown to be the motive for an untruthful report.
I highlit the part of the code for reporting unlicensed activity to the Missouri Board of Private Investigator Examiners. As we can very plainly see there is no hard and fast rule that absolutely requires one to report suspicions of unlicensed activity to the Missouri Board of Private Investigator Examiners. As a matter of fact, there is a specific provision in the rules that allow a Licensed Private Investigator to make an inquiry with the person that he or she believes is practicing without a license in an effort to determine whether there is cause to make a complaint, or if making a complaint would amount to no more than a baseless allegation. So, the statement that one must report all suspicious activity to the Missouri Board of Private Investigator Examiners is not completely accurate. In cases where there is some question as to whether or not a person is operating illegally as a Private Investigator in Missouri by not being licensed, the licensed Private Investigator that is aware of these suspicions has the option to first consult with the person they suspect of conducing unlicensed activity to see if this is in fact really occurring.
Now with regard to Mr. Bill Stanton, there is no doubt that he is not licensed here in the state of Missouri as a Private Investigator. A simple check of the Occupational Licensing database will reveal that Mr. Bill Stanton does not hold a Private Investigator’s license in Missouri. Anyone can check this Occupational Licensing Database, it is available to the public and can be found at this link: Missouri Occupational Licensing Database. So, it is simple to come to the conclusion that Mr. Bill Stanton is not a Missouri Licensed Private Investigator. However, before making a complaint with the Missouri Board of Private Investigator Examiners, what we have to determine is whether or not the activity that Mr. Stanton is conducting can be defined as conducting the business of a Private Investigator without a license. Media reports and media assigned titles do not rise to the level of cause to believe that Mr. Stanton is conducting Private Investigator business without a license. I think that the most appropriate approach to this situation would be to first contact Mr. Stanton and ask what types of his activities he is conducting, in what capacity he is working for the family in, and to go over the rules and statutes with him in order to give him and understanding of where the line is in what activities he can legally conduct and can’t legally conduct.
I must admit that I am a little disappointed in Mr. Rugen’s lack of understanding of our rules governing Private Investigators here in Missouri. I also have to wonder why Mr. Rugen has inserted himself into this case to begin with? Was Mr. Rugen contacted by the family to assist in locating Baby Lisa Irwin? Was Mr. Rugen contacted by Law Enforcement to consult to them with some special skill that he has in trying to locate Baby Lisa Irwin? While Mr. Rugen is an EXCELLENT Process Server; I am not aware of any special skills that he has that would enable him to offer some unique assistance to Law Enforcement in a Missing Child Case. I wonder (and I hope I am wrong), but I wonder if Mr. Rugen is just not trying to use this case to get himself some media attention? I really hope that this is not the case because I think that it would take a pretty selfish person to put their “need” for attention before that of a baby child’s need for as much media focus as possible to try to bring her safely home. I took the time to choose one of the better and most appropriate pictures I have of Mr. Rugen for this blog, which accurately portrays him.
Ron Rugen From Rugen Team Website
I will follow up with a case analysis on this case from a member of my staff that has over 22 years of Law Enforcement Experience with 12 of those years being a Detective with a Regional Major Case Squad, tomorrow night. I think the public needs a close look at what is happening with this case, and I’d like to try to help focus the public on trying to find Baby Lisa Irwin.
As always, thank you for your time. Stay tuned!
Ricky B. Gurley.
The Truth About The Criminal Defense Investigator
A few days ago I read a very interesting and thought provoking article by a well respected and extremely knowledgeable and competent Criminal Defense Investigator, and I think it is an EXCELLENT reply to all of those people in Law Enforcement that say that the Criminal Defense Investigator is working for the “darkside”, or the prosecutors that seem to believe the same.
Below is an article by Brandon Perron, and nobody could have said this better….
The Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council
The CDITC Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigator maintains a philosophy as an “impartial and objective advocate of the truth”. Many do not understand how this can be so. After all, are we not working on behalf of the defense and therefore committed to defending the guilty as well as the innocent? Indeed. The Constitution of the United States calls for the defense of the accused and ensures that all be afforded a fair trial. Our critics fail to accept that idea than one is innocent until proven guilty. Thus, we assist and defend the “accused”. It is in this spirit and in accordance with the letter of the law that we do what we do. In essence, we are defending not any one individual but in fact an idea defined by truth, liberty, and justice. As a group we work on behalf of all when we ensure one is granted their constitutional right to a fair trial. We do this by pursuing the truth and ensuring that all of the facts are brought to light. This is done while working as an agent of counsel with all the privileges afforded such a role. We uncover and report the truth to defense counsel so that they may properly advise and defend the accused. If all parties were to act in such an impartial and objective manner, the truth would be revealed and justice would be served without prejudice. A lofty idea but an objective nonetheless. Too many in our system, on both sides, have lost sight of what it is that we do and why we do it. Fundamentally, it is about fairness to all. A victim of crime is always a tragic event that demands justice by a fair and just system. Yet, we must also acknowledge and remind our criminal justice colleagues that a victim of the system is also a tragic and appalling crime and in many ways a much larger injustice. In fact, it is an insult to every American who has lost their life defending this great nation.
What of the claims often promoted by narrow minded individuals? I have yet to meet a professional criminal defense investigator who wishes to free the guilty. Such an objective would be outrageous by any standard. Would it not? Of course! However, it is a fact. No, it is a truth that our entire system of juris prudence is based upon the Blackstonian view that it is “better to let ten guilty escape than allow one innocent to suffer”. It is the innocent that our system is designed to protect. The innocent! Consider the meaning of this word. Such a designation comes in many forms. Again, many in the criminal justice system never fail to declare that laws are created to protect the innocent from crime. However, those same fair minded people tend to forget that laws are also created to protect the innocent from the very laws designed to punish the guilty. In other words, laws are created to defend us from ourselves. The greatest threat to freedom and truth comes not from a foreign power but from within. We are our own worst enemy. This is where the criminal defense professional comes into play. We NEVER forget and function as a constant reminder to the fair minded but often forgetful. The reminder is aggressively delivered in the form of facts, evidence, and truth and it is delivered without apology.
The CDITC Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigator represents the virtual Knighthood of the faithful. We recognize the need, accept the responsibility, and stand watch as defenders of the constitution and the right of the accused to a fair trial. If you are not a CDITC Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigator, I encourage you to apply and join the ranks of the ever faithful and courageous elite. Our ranks are growing. The monumental task of promoting and defending truth demands no less.
Mandamus Veritas!
Link to The Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council
Thank you Brandon. Thank you for articulately expressing the real truth behind the role of the Criminal Defense Investigator.
Rick.
