Custody investigations are difficult and you need the best help you can obtain to ensure your children’s safety and security.

Child custody investigations take dedication

If you ask James Gilchrist, he’s simply the best private investigator there is. After all, child custody investigations takes dedication and a lot of intuition. With a background in law enforcement and over twelve years investigative experience, Gilchrist prides himself in being able to think outside the box and accomplish seemingly impossible things, all while maintaining a level of ethical behavior that garners him respect in the industry.

“I need to have this mentality that I’m the best. I’m always saying to myself that if nobody else can do this, I can, because I want the attorney and the client to rest assured that if I get on the stand to testify, I’m going to know everything there is to know, and the other side is going to be blown away,” says Gilchrist.

GPS trackers allow investigators to conduct surveillance

Gilchrist considers GPS trackers to be one of the most important tools in his private investigative work. The use of GPS trackers allow investigators to conduct surveillance and gather useful information without being detected, all while still remaining extremely cost effective to clients.

“One GPS can give us the same information as if we had hired 3 investigators to follow one person around 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” says Gilchrist.

Using a self-enclosed, metal box container, Gilchrist can place a GPS tracker on a vehicle that provides location data up to every ten seconds. The trackers allow Gilchrist to monitor the travels and whereabouts of any car as it drives along public roads or is parked in public places. The information these trackers provide can be critically important in cases concerning alimony, child custody, harassment, or alienation of affection.

“I think GPS trackers are a wonderful tool, because people need to know what’s really going on before they make a life decision. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to know the truth before making any decisions,” says Gilchrist.

The art of dumpster diving

Another investigative technique that Gilchrist has mastered is the art of dumpster diving. Although he’s the first to admit that the actual act requires little skill, knowing just what to look for in a mound of someone else’s trash takes experience and grit.

“If you’re trying to prove cohabitation of somebody of the opposite sex living in the house, and you’re going through the recipes and see they bought animal crackers, cleaning products, and then they also bought Old Spice…well who’s wearing the Old Spice? Or maybe you know he drinks a certain style of beer or wine, and then you see another brand on the receipt – those sorts of things can absolutely raise suspicion and are beneficial when you find them,” says Gilchrist.

Trust no one

Gilchrist believes that it’s his job as a private investigator to trust nobody, and to think that anybody can do anything. Yet to him, the work he does daily for his clients doesn’t really feel like work at all.

“I enjoy this too much to call it work. The most rewarding thing in this job is to get things right. Anything other than the truth in the courtroom just makes the whole system corrupt. That’s why it’s so important to me to be able to help make sure that a child is going to be with the right parent, because of the truth.”

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• Information, Not Advice: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every equitable distribution case is fact-specific, and outcomes depend on the particular assets, debts, marital history, and county involved.
• No Guarantee of Results: Past case outcomes do not predict future results.
• Office Responsibility: Cape Fear Family Law is responsible for the content of this advertisement. Our principal office is located in Wilmington, North Carolina, with additional offices in Durham and the Jacksonville/Camp Lejeune corridor.