While investigators would rather be trying to take down a serial killer, in this case, we were hired by a husband to surveil his wife’s activities. In this domestic investigation, we found that we were on the trail of a serial cheater.
The husband was in a tough divorce battle with his wife for primary custody of their child. We were hired to keep track of her activities and report to the husband before their court date. We found that this lady was really busy, and traveled a lot as well.
Most of her activities were in the Houston, TX area, but the beginning of this story was in the Austin area. In these cases, you’re surveilling someone while trying to remain unseen. You try to get as close as possible to get photos without your activity being spotted. In this case, I had followed the lady to a cabin in the woods where she was meeting a policeman.
They were engaged in enthusiastic physical activity on a picnic table in the backyard. In trying to get photos for the husband’s case, I was lying nearby as still as possible. Apparently, I was effective at the “still” part, as suddenly I attracted the attention of some buzzards that I assume thought they had a pending meal lying there. The policeman noticed them and asked our subject if they should go check out what they were attracted to, but luckily she wanted to stay at the table for more fun. I got my photos and got out of there while they were distracted.
On to Idaho, where our lady subject was meeting a pilot on a military installation. When I got to the installation main gate, the military police were not going to let me in, as it was a high-security installation. I told them that I was there to visit a pilot friend and gave them his name. I crossed my fingers as they tried to call him. Luckily, he didn’t answer, but since I knew who he was and that he was there, they gave me a visitor’s pass.
Between photos of the pilot and our lady subject on base and at her hotel, I left with a lot of documentation of her activities. I submitted my report and photos to her husband. He wasn’t pleased with the documentation, but he was pleased with the result. He left court with primary custody of their young child.
Domestic cases like this are not fun, and I’d rather be doing countermeasure and debugging work or following criminals. However, they’re part of the business, and we do it well.
This is one of 30 real-world case studies with more detail in my book. Get the free PDF download here.