As private investigators, we often get asked the question ?can a private investigator find someone??. In fact, it is one of the most common questions we get on a daily basis! So, what is the deal? Can a private investigator find someone, indeed?
The short answer is a resounding YES. We can find almost anyone with our private investigation services although success rate as well as how soon a person can be found depend on various factors. There are many things to consider from a legal point of view as well as the available information on hand. Below are factors to consider before hiring a private investigator to find someone.
Reason for Finding the Person
Private investigators are bound by the federal and provincial laws to uphold certain standards. Ethics is also a reason why private investigators can?t just dole out powerful information for no reason at all. If you?ve been looking for someone, like a friend or family member that you?ve lost contact with, private investigators are more likely to take your case. If the person you are looking for is an old flame or an ex that you want to keep tabs on, then a private investigator might decline if your reasons don?t seem to be harmless.
In some cases, private investigators will also contact the persons you are looking for to inform them that you are looking for them and ask them if they are fine with sharing their information to you.
What Details You Can Share
It takes information to find someone else. If you can provide a name, estimated age, and location of the last contact, the private investigator is more likely to succeed in finding someone for you versus if you only want to find someone who was wearing a blue shirt at a bar a few years ago.
The less information you have, the longer the search will take because the private investigator may have to pursue multiple dead ends and wrong leads before finding the person you are looking for. It takes a lot of skills, legal workarounds, and tens if not hundreds of man-hours to find someone.
Is It Necessary to Physically Find the Person?
It is one thing to find someone online but a whole other level to find out where someone lives. If you need to find someone to serve papers or for some legal matter like for a court order, this will take time and cost more because you might also need surveillance services.
How Much Can You Spend on Finding Someone
As mentioned earlier, finding someone can take tens to hundreds of hours. That is going to cost you some serious cash more so if you can only provide very vague details. You can choose to DIY a bit by using consumer-based online databases but the main thing we want to emphasize here is to be reasonable with your expectations.
Remember, when you hire a private investigator, you are not only paying for his or her time but also for the years of experience that it took him or her to have the needed private investigator skills.
Are You Patient Enough?
The less information you can provide, the harder and longer the search will be. Imagine if you can only provide a common name like John Smith. There are thousands of John Smith in the world! Finding the right person will literally be like looking for a needle in a haystack, even for a seasoned private investigator!
Are you ready to find someone? Contact us at Haywood Hunt for a consultation on which of our private investigation services may be able to help you the most to find a missing person or locate a person of interest.