private detective services... which 1 is da best?

[jian1]

I am trying to locate a missing person(a university friend, just lost touch) and want to try 1 of following private detective agency that provides this kinda service, which one offers the highest chance of locating such a person? I am in North York, On.


1. centralpiservices --- www.centralpiservices.com
2. investigators-group --- investigators-group.com
3. torontopi --- www.torontopi.com

now investigators-group had replied me with quote of $500 to locate my old friend, and they claim the chance of locating such a person will be around 80% and it will take 2~3 weeks, are they that reliable?

any suggestions ? I will be very appreciated.

[Oni-kun]

4chan....



or you could try facebook first.

[Mattones]

I would find it a bit creepy is one of my old friends used one of those to find me... but hey to each their own.

[Mattones]

I would find it a bit creepy is one of my old friends used one of those to find me... but hey to each their own.

[Flyer]

http://images.despair.com/products/demotivators/persistence.jpg

[ariell]

:-0 Oh come on. There's obviously more to this story. No one would pay a detective just to locate a university friend that you just 'lost touch' with. What's the real story?

[goJays]

i can't imagine it being too hard to locate someone who pays taxes and lives in the same city, province, and maybe even country. u would just need access to some key information, which i assume these companies some how have. don't know the legality behind that though if they do have access to personal information.

[goJays]

on another note, pay me 500$ and i will locate the person via checking all the phone books in the province starting with the popular cities. im just joking though, 500$ wouldn't be enough for me to do such unfulfilling work.

[TimePilot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VIPlG8Xtq8

[LNahid2000]

Mars Investigations (from Veronica Mars)

[Spray]

I'm a Private Investigator, been doing it for years now.

500 is a pretty common flat fee. To be honest a lot of PI companies can't be bothered doing it for less money.

Shoot me a PM and maybe I can help you out.

[GangStarr]

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/twentieth_century_fox/there_s_something_about_mary/chris_elliot/something1.jpg

[vaderschariot]

lol...........that is plain creepy......if it is a real friend you wouldnt have lost touch especially in this day and age with email

[nickia]

I need to find a person as well. Any reviews on P.I. in Toronto??

[element88]

I am trying to locate a missing person(a university friend, just lost touch) and want to try 1 of following private detective agency that provides this kinda service,.

This may be a completely innocent situation but on the other hand, how do private investigation companies know it's not some abusive guy trying to find their ex GF after she reported him to police and left the city ?

I would hope that any professional Private Investigator would take exceptional care not to locate and provide info on a victim for a former abusive partner or perpetrator ?!! Surely they do some kind of precautionary checks to ensure this is not the case ?

[Spray]

Shoot me a PM..
Like I said I've been doing this a long time now.


I need to find a person as well. Any reviews on P.I. in Toronto??

[Piccolo]

This may be a completely innocent situation but on the other hand, how do private investigation companies know it's not some abusive guy trying to find their ex GF after she reported him to police and left the city ?

I would hope that any professional Private Investigator would take exceptional care not to locate and provide info on a victim for a former abusive partner or perpetrator ?!! Surely they do some kind of precautionary checks to ensure this is not the case ?

Good point. I wonder about that too? How would a private detective know? Would the private investigator be held accountable for finding a person who has been abused by their client and then their client ends up continuing to be abusive? What relationship does a private investigator have with the police? Do they have to disclose their cases to the police?
I am a complete newb to this topic and never really thought about any of this stuff. I only know one person who hand to hire a private investigator and that was to find his seperated wife so he could get a divorce.

[element88]

Good point. I wonder about that too? How would a private detective know? Would the private investigator be held accountable for finding a person who has been abused by their client and then their client ends up continuing to be abusive? What relationship does a private investigator have with the police? Do they have to disclose their cases to the police?
I am a complete newb to this topic and never really thought about any of this stuff. I only know one person who hand to hire a private investigator and that was to find his seperated wife so he could get a divorce.

In some cases, some women have been abused so badly they had to get restraining orders and/or move into women's shelters. The locations of these shelters are very closely guarded.

A good friend of mine has a daughter who was so badly beaten by her boyfriend that she had to be hospitalized with multiple fractures. She got assistance from the police to move to a different province when she was released. Now, in her case, if her ex boyfriend was able to find her, he would likely severely beat or kill her as he was charged with aggravated assault and was put in jail for two lousy years. He is now out and actively looking for her. If he were to hire a private investigator, I would be shocked if they actually led him to her !!

I would hope they are able to determine the right circumstances in which to release information to a client, and the times when they should be going to police !

[XtraHardcore]

In some cases, some women have been abused so badly they had to get restraining orders and/or move into women's shelters. The locations of these shelters are very closely guarded.

A good friend of mine has a daughter who was so badly beaten by her boyfriend that she had to be hospitalized with multiple fractures. She got assistance from the police to move to a different province when she was released. Now, in her case, if her ex boyfriend was able to find her, he would likely severely beat or kill her as he was charged with aggravated assault and was put in jail for two lousy years. He is now out and actively looking for her. If he were to hire a private investigator, I would be shocked if they actually led him to her !!

I would hope they are able to determine the right circumstances in which to release information to a client, and the times when they should be going to police !


this is scary...then again, I think the detectives care less, they do what they are paid for...

[st7860]

I am trying to locate a missing person(a university friend, just lost touch) and want to try 1 of following private detective agency that provides this kinda service, which one offers the highest chance of locating such a person? I am in North York, On.


any suggestions ? I will be very appreciated.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1017/pipr3.jpg

[torontopi]

As the owner/operator of Toronto PI I would like to clarify our position in respect to missing "friends". We screen each request to locate "friends" to ensure we are dealing with bonofide clients who have a reasonable explaination for wanting to contact someone - If there is no "legally accepted reason" (ex. estates, process serving, etc) we generally agree to locate the individual on the understanding that "we" will contact the missing party personally and advise them that someone is looking to make contact with them and provide the missing person with the contact information to get back to the client - we would not supply the information directly to the client and leave it up to the missing person to decide if they want to be contacted or not. Any agency that simply locates "friends" without question is in our opinion unethical and doomed for problems - Al Duncan (Toronto PI)

[element88]

this is scary...then again, I think the detectives care less, they do what they are paid for...

Well, from what I understand, all Private Investigators must be licensed and therefore go through some degree of training and background checks. In addition, I would think that if they were reckless enough to help a violent ex-spouse/partner etc to track down and find their wives/gf's etc who may be in hiding with their children or some other similar situation and cause them to be seriously injured or killed, they could be held liable and perhaps even be criminally charged.

They get paid yes, but not to break the law or put people at risk - at least not those running a licensed business.

[Bazooka Joe]

4chan....



or you could try facebook first.

+1

Facebook makes it rediculously easy to track someone down, or at least track someone down who is friends with them.

[element88]

+1

Facebook makes it rediculously easy to track someone down, or at least track someone down who is friends with them.

Well, not everybody uses Facebook and if they were attempting to hide from somebody, I doubt very much that they would be putting up a profile on Facebook.

[nano]

http://www.cheaters.com/images/site/JoeyGreco-09_sm.jpg


joey will solve your problem....

[Bazooka Joe]

Well, not everybody uses Facebook and if they were attempting to hide from somebody, I doubt very much that they would be putting up a profile on Facebook.

Man you guys are paranoid. We have posters every day who can't figure out how to do basic tasks or call their lawyers before calling the police when they are assaulted... is it that hard to believe that someone was too misguided to try a private detective instead of facebook to contact an old friend?

Not everybody uses facebook, but IME a TON of people do, especially 25-40 year olds. I've probably got back in touch with 50+ people using it.

[element88]

Man you guys are paranoid. We have posters every day who can't figure out how to do basic tasks or call their lawyers before calling the police when they are assaulted... is it that hard to believe that someone was too misguided to try a private detective instead of facebook to contact an old friend?

Not everybody uses facebook, but IME a TON of people do, especially 25-40 year olds. I've probably got back in touch with 50+ people using it.

Okay, I think you have missed part of the thread. The last few posts were were talking about concerns regarding some people who could actually be placed in danger by being found (i.e. severely abused women) and the ethics of private investigators who provide the location info to the abusive bf's or husbands. There are some people like these woman who have every justification for being terrified of being found.

I do agree with you otherwise though - Facebook is an amazing way to find people who you want to reconnect with.

[Bazooka Joe]

Okay, I think you have missed part of the thread. The last few posts were were talking about concerns regarding some people who could actually be placed in danger by being found (i.e. severely abused women) and the ethics of private investigators who provide the location info to the abusive bf's or husbands. There are some people like these woman who have every justification for being terrified of being found.

I do agree with you otherwise though - Facebook is an amazing way to find people who you want to reconnect with.

What are you, the forum police? I can't respond to the OP since you're in a conversation tangent to the original? :lol: I think you guys are being a little paranoid and decided to ignore your discussion and offer a piece of advice to the OP on how they might be able to easily and cheaply reconnect with the person they're attempting to get in touch with.

I think the OP would prefer an idea that would save them $500 instead of the implication that they were an abuser/stalker but that's just me...

[element88]

What are you, the forum police? I can't respond to the OP since you're in a conversation tangent to the original? :lol: I think you guys are being a little paranoid and decided to ignore your discussion and offer a piece of advice to the OP on how they might be able to easily and cheaply reconnect with the person they're attempting to get in touch with.

I think the OP would prefer an idea that would save them $500 instead of the implication that they were an abuser/stalker but that's just me...

You can write or respond to whatever you want. I was simply responding to another comment around ethics of investigations that stemmed off from the original post, and was interesting to me.

I did not mean to suggest the original poster was a stalker at all. I know Facebook is a great resource.

There is no need to create an argument here. I am just as free to state my views as you are so lets just leave it at that.

[Skully]

If i told yah, i'd have to ki!! yah. :D :D :D

[Quantum]

we generally agree to locate the individual on the understanding that "we" will contact the missing party personally and advise them that someone is looking to make contact with them and provide the missing person with the contact information to get back to the client - we would not supply the information directly to the client and leave it up to the missing person to decide if they want to be contacted or not.


That's convenient. I think I am going to open up an investigative agency.....

Yes maam I did locate the missing person (and gave them your contact information, but they apparently don't want to speak with you. That will be $1000, plus disbursements (sorry can't break down the disbursements, you might figure out where they are...just take my word for it).