I began my own business and called it Search Investigation. My primary forte was the location of individuals who did not want to be found. These were debtor skips, runaway husbands and wives, runaway children, custodial kidnaping, non-insured accident participants, dead beat dads, etc. The work was plentiful and I was busy.
Most of my assignments were provided by law firms and insurance companies. Most assignments would require me either dealing with Mormon clients, or investigating individuals who were members of the Mormon Church. The course of my activities began to reveal the “real people” and, chip by chip, tore away the member portrait painted by the Mormon church. The pure became tainted, the original canvas began to expose itself.
I had been encouraged to become licensed as a private investigator by many of my more prestigious clients, in order to appear more legitimate. In 1984, I applied for and received my license. Being licensed as a private investigator definitely stigmatized me. In the eyes of some, I became Mike Hammer, Sam Spade, Magnum PI, James Bond, and James Rockford all rolled into one. Sleazy bars, sleazier women, fast cars, and faster women. Divorce cases, surveillance, internal theft, everything a cop wouldn’t want to do. A private cop, really, with no support, no backup, and no respect!
I did not like the addition of divorce and custody investigations for two reasons; One, it brought back many memories of my past and, Two, it continued to erode my perceived utopia of Mormonism. There were a lot of rotten grapes in God’s own vineyard.