Anyone hire a private detective.
Has anyone had experience with a private detective agency and the costs/heartaches involved. My wife left suddenly, does not initiate communication, and has spent several overnights away from the house where she is staying now. When I check up on her and confront her about staying out all night (and the thanksgiving weekend thing) she has an excuse ready made or she simply states I don't have to tell you everywhere that I am going. In the case of the Thanksgiving weekend trip that she was supposed to make to her sisters house in San Diego, she lied to my face the day before and it was not my doing that got her caught lying to me. My brother in law called our place on Thanksgiving Day to wish "us" a Happy T day. He knew nothing of her coming down there. He called me, I didn't call them. I also called her other sister in Atlanta (that my wife said would not be able to make it to San Diego) and she knew nothing of our situation or of the San Diego get together. When my wife came back from the weekend (wherever she was) she got pissed off at me for calling her sister in Atlanta and telling the family in San Diego that she was supposed to be there. I also had called her friend (roomate/landlord) and told her that I knew she wasn't there. I asked her if she knew of anything going on and she of course said that my wife was being very secretive even to her. I should've known that her friend would not say anything anyway. Well wife has another sister in Mississippi and when wife came back and confronted me about the weekend I think that she concocted a good story up. I do not have a phone number for the 3rd sister in Mississippi (I have never even spoken to her) and she knows that. She said that they went to Los Angeles, & that they have family in Los Angeles too (although I never knew this). She said thanks for ruining the surprise that she had planned for family in San Diego. I really don't believe any of it because she didn't leave until Thanksgiving morning (she said she was leaving the night before) and her friend said that wife left quietly that morning and friend didn't take her anywhere (but wife's car was still there). I have not heard back from any of her family again. I am sure that she told them some good ones about me. I have tried to contact the sister in Atlanta (because she seemed angry at her sister for throwing it all away) but she has not called me back.
I want the truth no matter how much it hurts. She tells me there is nothing going on but I still want to know for sure. I can try and do things myself to find out, like switch cars with someone for the weekend and follow her. I don't know what I will do though if I am actually there and see something I don't like right in front of my own eyes.
Well, anyway... any idea on what it would cost for an agency to check her out for a weekend??
Thanks
Re:Anyone hire a private detective. Im_Lin: Just curious, does she have a cell phone that your name is on??? And if so check to see if it has GPS capability.
My stbx's phone did and I activated it because it was my account that his phone was under....he didn't/doesn't know it is activated to this day and is convinced I hired a PI to spy on him....
It will show you where they are via online computer. If she isn't that far you could print the map and then go looking for her car or her.....then see for yourself.
I would recommend if this an option available to you that you take a trusted friend with you to keep you from doing something stupid....i.e. kicking the back end of a new BMW comes to mind....ouch, my toe is still black and blue and I learned not to kick things in sandals...but it was that or him between the legs so he should be greatful.
Re:Anyone hire a private detective. mmark: I have, best thing I've done so far.
It cost me less than $2k for 2 days.
They kept in touch with me and asked if I wanted them to continue. I had a set fee per hour per PI. Sometimes I had two following her to keep her from detecting them, she was very paranoid.
I use the reports to this day to provide me with leverage in our divorce / custody settlement.
Re:Anyone hire a private detective. Discarded: If you have a computer you can also put a Keylogger on it that will log every keystroke made on the computer and some keep every incoming email, pictures, etc and send it to your email.
Can be very helpful if they are doing stuff online. It will also tell you if they are ebaying, selling stuff, buying stuff, and / or looking for something else, IE rentals, motels, hotels, or a new house.
Be mentally prepared for what you may find.
Re:Anyone hire a private detective. Discarded: I did hire a PI for a specific time, after I gathered specific information from the Keylogger.
All this proved invaluable in court. She went into court lying her ass off and I could pull out proof on some if not all of it. After the first day she couldn't lie anymore because she didn't know if I had proof of it from a PI or in the case of the Keylogger in her own writing.
I ended up with basically everything that I wanted from the divorce.
Discarded
