On Q Professional Investigations

As a parade of slovenly dressed 20-somethings passed through the entrance of a downtown Manhattan apartment building on a weekday afternoon, these seemingly savvy New Yorkers did not seem to notice they were the subjects of a photo shoot.

That is because this shoot was covertly orchestrated by their landlord, who had hired a private investigator to root out illegal tenants.

Masked by lunchtime crowds and afternoon rain, the private eye, Joseph Mullen, who has run a sleuthing firm for more than 40 years, parked his car in front of the building, flipped through papers showing that several residents of the seven-story building were “dead or living somewhere else,” and waited.

Shane Williams, a vice president of the firm, J.T. Mullen Inc., slouched strategically in his seat and photographed people as they entered and left. The affable pair looked like observers at an antifashion show as food deliverymen paraded through, an older portly renter stepped out to buy cheese biscuits and renters dressed in gym clothing shuffled outside to smoke.

“We don’t know half the people who live in this building,” Mr. Mullen said. He released a gravelly chuckle, rustled through papers and glanced through the tinted window. “The landlords say, ‘I got to get these illegal tenants out and make some money.’ ”

In a high-rent borough like Manhattan with plenty of rent-regulated apartments ripe for exploitation, real estate investigation has long been a big business. Private detectives say it has picked up in the past year as some New Yorkers have tried to find extra money by moving out of their apartments and subletting to other renters for more than they are paying, which is not allowed.

And, of course, there are landlords pressed for cash, trying to root out people who are using rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartments illegally. This would allow the landlords to find new tenants and raise the rent by 20 percent or more under state housing law. During the speculation boom of the last decade, some large landlords were accused of using private investigators to harass legal tenants out of their apartments in order to raise rents to cover large mortgages and increase their profits.

Landlords who root out illegal sublets and absentee renters — a rent-regulated tenant must occupy the unit for at least 183 days a year — crow about how profitable these investigations can be.

Craig Charie, a lawyer and landlord who has hired private investigators for such cases since 1994, described a tenant at one Chelsea building who held onto her $433-a-month apartment while living primarily in New Jersey. An investigator tracked her commuting patterns, and Mr. Charie kicked her out, combined the apartment with another to make a duplex and raised the rent.

“It’s exceptionally useful,” Mr. Charie said. “We pieced together a lifestyle and recaptured the unit.”

As Mr. Mullen and Mr. Williams watched for residents and rain pattered on the car, they explained how these real estate cases, which make up a small fraction of their business, reach them. New Yorkers settle into rent-regulated apartments in their 20s. But as their incomes and families grow and they move out, they try to hold onto these apartments by renting them out to family and friends. When landlords bought buildings in recent years, often the only information they were given about their tenants was scribbled on rumpled papers and included names of residents who had not lived there in 30 years. Mr. Williams estimates that landlords do not know 20 percent of their tenants.

That is when they hire Mr. Mullen’s firm. He investigated a Baxter Street building where all of the residents had the same Social Security number. Mr. Williams chimed in about a building where the illegal tenant listed his apartment under the name O. B. Juan KNobi.

They allowed this reporter on a recent stakeout on the condition that the address not be published, because it was still under surveillance. They were hired to investigate 10 of the 25 apartments in the building; they usually earn $300 to $500 per apartment, or more if it involves extensive research. The most widely available public records may not always help. They said some tenants who lived elsewhere most of the year would vote in the city (itself a crime) to leave a paper trail or would receive their mail at their rent-controlled apartment and bribe the superintendent to forward it once a week.

This building had several advantages for the two men, including proximity to good coffeehouses, to keep them alert, and a superintendent who puts out the trash early enough to give them time to dig for Consolidated Edison or phone bills or other clues to who actually lives in an apartment. E-ZPass records and auto insurance bills are also useful. At some buildings, the superintendent can be talked into wedging a match into a locked apartment door to see how many days or weeks it takes to fall out.

When a smoker emerged from the building, they cheered; smokers linger and make it easy to photograph. Eventually, they will give all their photos to the landlord, who can show them to the superintendent to identify who is living where and whether a 25-year-old is living alone in a 95-year-old’s apartment.

If so, the eviction process can begin. It’s a messy business that has left Mr. Mullen with little envy for his clients.

“I wouldn’t want to be a landlord,” he said.

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Miami Beach police say two Transportation Security Administration officers partied a little too hard Tuesday night, trashed their South Beach hotel room and then picked up a semi-automatic handgun and shot six rounds out the window.

One bullet pierced a $1,500 hurricane impact resistant window at a nearby Barneys New York, penetrated a wall and tore into some jeans in the closed store’s stockroom, according to store manager Adelchi Mancusi. No one was injured.

Jeffrey Piccolella, 27, and Nicholas Anthony Puccio, 25, were arrested just before midnight. The Palm Beach County men have been charged with criminal mischief and use of a firearm while under the influence.

In a city known for wild, late-night behavior, merely tossing speakers, lamps, a phone, ice chest and vase out a second floor room at the Hotel Shelley, 844 Collins. Ave., might not have drawn much attention.

But according to an incident report, a front desk clerk and security guard called police about 11:18 p.m. after they heard one gun shot, followed by three to five more after a few seconds. When the clerk went back inside the hotel, a guest told him someone was throwing furniture and bric-a-brac out the window of room 217, where Piccolella and Puccio were staying the night.

Detective Vivian Hernandez, a police spokeswoman, said officers arrived and, after a shell casing was found on the ground amid broken room furnishings, the SWAT team was called out.

Investigators went to the mens’ room and then took them to police headquarters.

In a recorded interview, Piccolella told a detective he and Puccio were drinking before returning to their hotel room, according to the incident report. He allegedly said they opened a window, tossed several objects out and then Piccolella grabbed a .380-calliber pistol from his luggage and they took turns shooting out the window.

Puccio said the story was untrue, according to the report.

Police impounded the gun.

Hotel management said $400 in furniture was destroyed.

The two men were booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Center on $5,500 bond each.

TSA spokesman Jon Allen wrote in an email that Piccolella and Puccio are part-time officers who have worked one and two years, respectively, for the agency. They were not in Miami Beach on TSA business, according to Allen.

“TSA holds its employees to the highest professional and ethical standards,” Allen wrote. “We will review the facts and take appropriate action as necessary.”

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Investigators are putting together a timeline of events that led to a Pittsburgh armored car driver allegedly killing his colleague and making off with $2.3 million, while a manhunt is now underway to find the culprit, who is carrying three automatic weapons.

Police are asking people across the country to be on the lookout for 22-year-old Kenneth Konias Jr., who they are describing as a cold-blooded killer that shot his co-worker Michael Haines in the back of the head and left him in the back of the Garda armored vehicle the two operated.

“Our belief is that he planned to rob the company, and if he had to kill the guard he planned to do that,” an officer said.

The two men worked for Garda Cash Logistics and were collecting cash from the Rivers Casino and a Home Depot in Pittsburgh. Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday Haines’ body was found inside the cargo area of the Garda armored vehicle, with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, and more than $2 million.

Pouring over surveillance video, investigators have created a timeline showing at least five collection stops made by Haines and Konias before the shooting.

Surveillance video shows the truck speeding away from a service road behind a Home Depot at 12:55 p.m. Tuesday. At 1:23 p.m. the armored vehicle was seen in a parking lot underneath a bridge. Three minutes later police say Konias ran to his 2002 Ford Explorer, and at sometime between 1:30 p.m. and 3:40 p.m. he returned to his home.

Police stumbled upon the abandoned armored car just before 4 p.m. and found blood dripping from its locked doors.

“He had at least a two-hour head start from the time he left work until the time Mr. Haines was discovered,” Cmd. Tom Stangrecki of the Pittsburgh Police Department said. “We’re not sure if he’s in the state.”

Konias’s father said that when he was home he discarded a bloodied uniform jacket, while police say that he took off with as many as three semi-automatic pistols, including one he allegedly took from Haines in the truck.

At some point Konias made a phone call to a friend, which was outlined in the criminal complaint charging him with homicide and robbery.

“At the time of this conversation with Kenneth Konias, Konias made statements such as, ‘I (expletive) up. My life is over,’” the criminal complaint stated.

After the friend asked Konias a series of questions probing what was wrong — whether he was having a bad day at work or had gotten a girl pregnant — the friend, who is identified as Witness #1 in the criminal complaint, said, “What, did you kill someone?”

After a few seconds of silence, Konias allegedly said “yes” and implored his friend to run away with him and live off the money from his heist.

Haines’ roommate of seven years, Joe Krsul, told ABCNews.com his friend and Konias worked together “a couple of times a week/” Haines never expressed concern about Konias, but said he preferred working with the veteran guards.

“He said he felt the younger guys didn’t know what they were doing,” Krsul said.

Darin Dinapoli, a friend of Haines, says that he does not want him to merely be remembered as a robbery victim.

“I want Mike to be remembered more as the genuine person that he is, and not just a guy that was shot in the back of a car,” Dinapoli said adding that he hopes Konias is apprehended soon. “If that guy is still out there, will you turn yourself in man.”

To become employed in the armored car service industry potential drivers must go through a screening process. Though it varies with different companies, the process often includes a criminal background check, reference checks and polygraph testing.

Garda, the company for which both men worked, is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for Haines’ killing and for the return of the stolen funds.

“We are deeply saddened at the death of our colleague and extend our condolences to his family,” Garda said in a statement. “We are continuing to assist law enforcement in its investigation of this incident.”

Jim McGuffey, a security expert for 26 years, says this kind of robbery is a rare, but a deadly risk of the profession.

“You need firearms training, you need driver training, and you need basic guard training,” he told ABC News.”Unfortunately, you will have some bad guys slip through. This was just a horrific incident.”

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department has appointed a public advocate to handle complaints and questions about its immigration enforcement policies.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said Monday that senior ICE adviser Andrew Lorenzen-Strait will lead the effort.

Lorenzen-Strait’s appointment was to be announced Tuesday.

Morton said the position was created to ensure that the public and immigration advocates understand various changes being made within the department and what the changes mean for those immigrants being jailed by immigration authorities or those facing deportation. Lorenzen-Strait will also address concerns about ICE enforcement involving U.S. citizens.

“We have undertaken a significant number of reforms from a policy perspective and we want to make sure they are evenly understood in the public and advocacy communities,” Morton said.

Lorenzen-Strait, a lawyer who has been an ICE adviser since 2008, said he sees his new job as being the facilitator “of a two-way dialogue.” He will report to Gary Mead, ICE’s head of enforcement and removal operations.

In recent months DHS has announced changes in the way authorities determine which illegal immigrants are deported.

In June, Morton outlined when agents and immigration prosecutors could use discretion in opting not to pursue a deportation case. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano went a step further in August when she announced the review of roughly 300,000 pending deportation cases as part of the department’s efforts to focus its resources on deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records, repeat immigration law offenders and those who pose a public safety or national security threat.

After a review of cases pending in Baltimore and Denver, DHS officials earlier this year recommended closing more than 1,600 deportation cases involving non-criminal illegal immigrants. The review is ongoing in other parts of the country.

Morton said Lorenzen-Strait will be responsible for helping the public understand the prosecutorial discretion policy and other changes as well as addressing complaints about the changes.

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It was a night of chaos at an over-crowded West Side club.

Before police were able to clear Brick’s Sports Bar and Grill, shots rang out, a fight erupted in the parking lot, a woman got hit by a car, and a man who fired more shots drove off, hitting a building and a parked car, authorities said. No major injuries were reported.

Police said they were called to the club at 4422 West Madison St. about 1 a.m. after someone reported overcrowding. When officers got there the doors were locked and the people inside wouldn’t let them in, according to a police report.

The officers were eventually admitted and counted at least 270 people in a building with a legal limit of only 99, police said. Shots then rang out inside the club, and a group of apparently intoxicated women began fighting outside, police said.

One of the women tried to drive away but struck several parked cars and hit another woman involved in the fight, police said. She was arrested for driving under the influence. The woman hit by the car was taken to Stroger Hospital and was listed in good condition, police said.

While the fight was going on, a man outside the club fired a handgun, jumped in his car and took off down an alley, police said. The driver hit a building and a parked car before running away, according to the report. The car was found in the alley behind South Kostner Avenue near the club.

A handgun was found inside, but the driver was still at large this morning, police said.

Officers from three West Side police districts, along with specialty units, responded to the scene after the first officers on the scene radioed an emergency request for additional officers, police said.

The holder of the club’s license, Bettie Johnson, 56, was charged with reckless conduct and license violations, police said.

Johnson, of the 4100 block of West Madison Street, is listed in city records as the owner and secretary of Bricks.

As FBI and Scotland Yard investigators recently plotted out a strategy for tracking suspects linked to Anonymous, little did they know that members of the group were eavesdropping on their conference call and recording their plans.

The online vigilante group has released a 17-minute clip of a Jan. 17 conference call between investigators discussing evidence gathered against members of the group as well as upcoming plans for arrests. The group also released an e-mail sent out by an FBI agent to law enforcement agents around the world with a phone number and password for accessing the conference call.

The FBI has confirmed to the Associated Press that the recording is authentic.

FBI Conference Call Being Hacked

AnonymousIRC, a Twitter account purporting to be connected to the group, sent out a tweet on Friday with a link to an audio recording of the call, followed later by a message that read, “The FBI might be curious how we’re able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now.”

The call, between participants named Stewart and Bruce from Scotland Yard and the Los Angeles office of the FBI, began with the callers laughing over an inside joke about McDonald’s and cheese, then moved on to a discussion about a cyberconference in Sheffield. A few minutes later another agent from FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., joined in.

At that point, the participants began talking about Ryan Cleary and Jake Davis, two U.K. suspects linked to Anonymous. The investigators also discussed setting back arrests connected to two suspects known online as Tflow and Kayla. On the call the agents appeared to give the real names of these suspects, but Anonymous bleeped them out. The U.K. investigator notes that local authorities have made a secret application to a judge to request a delay in proceedings to assist the FBI.

“We’ve set back the further arrests of Kayla and Tflow, that being [redacted] and [redacted], until we know what’s happening,” the U.K. investigator said. “We’ve got our prosecution counsel making an application in chambers, without defense knowing, to seek a way to try and factor some time in that won’t look suspicious.”

“How much time do you think is reasonable?” the U.S. caller asked.

“I’ve gone and said eight weeks, if they come back and say they’ll only give us six weeks I think it still helps you guys out…,” was the reply. “We have got Ryan Cleary’s indecent images, which have been found partly by our guys and partly by the USAF team who looked at his hard drive. So what we’re going to propose is that they get dealt with first, historically they’re the older offenses, and then that would take six to eight weeks before we then rolled onto the second half of that. But it’s down to the trial judge.”

The FBI agent thanked the Yard investigator for being flexible and helping out U.S. authorities.

“Hey, we’re here to help,” the Yard investigator responded. “We’ve cocked things up in the past, we know that. It gives us more time to examine the chat logs in any event, so it’s not that much of a hardship.”

The discussion then turned to another 15-year-old suspect who used the online moniker Tehwongz, and who was apparently arrested in the U.K. before Christmas for DDoSing his school and allegedly defacing the website of a Manchester-based credit union. The U.K. agent explained that the hacker wrote a statement revealing how he became a hacker and allegedly asserting that he was responsible for the hack of the gaming site Steam, which suffered a breach last year.

The FBI investigator noted that the agency’s Baltimore office was looking into the compromise and would be interested in seeing the hacker’s statement.

“He’s just a pain in the bum,” the Yard investigator said in the call, adding that investigators had a copy of the suspect’s hard drive and would look at prosecuting him for the Steam hack if they can make evidence against him.

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Most people refer to a vehicle collision as an accident. However, since there is liability associated with an accident, the term seems to be a misnomer. It is so common to refer to it as an accident that investigators in this field are often referred to as accident reconstructionists. If it is an accident, this means there is no fault at all. It may as well mean for some unexplained reason, forces of the universe have met at a certain point in time and place and a result occurred that defies explanation. It means that it has likely never happened before and will probably never occur again in the future. In fact, the term accident is defined in the Merriam dictionary as an unforeseen event or circumstance. This hardly explains a vehicle collision. It is also why reconstructionists should be referred to as collision reconstructionists.

Collision investigators reconstruct collisions for several reasons. The most important , in my mind, and yet more subtle reasons for looking into significant collisions is to identify any environmental factors that may have been a primary contributor to the collision. This may prevent additional collisions at a certain location from causing further injuries or fatalities. They are often the most easily and quickly remedied. Another benefit for examining these collisions is to identify any safety concerns in vehicles for equipment or structural failures. Although this prevents further unwarranted injuries or fatalities, these are less common and more difficult to see through to the end. Lastly, there is the investigation to determine fault or liability.

Often in vehicle collisions, the events can be foreseen, although not always observed. They can certainly be explained and liability assigned. This happens daily in every city. In order to explain how events occur and why and then to assign liability reconstructionists must seek causation. In doing so, contributing factors need to be considered in determining causation. These factors may include driver behaviors, environmental factors, and vehicular factors.

Once a roadway hazard is perceived by a driver, the driver reacts to the hazard, and physics takes over. There is one of two outcomes as a result. There is a collision or a collision avoidance. In the case of a collision, there is a multitude of factors that affect the outcome of the impact. The investigator must consider acceleration, braking, speed, friction, and direction, energy and momentum, all of which has to be carefully analyzed. An affective reconstructionist has the unique ability and fortitude to compute many of these factors based on roadway evidence, scaled measurements, and sometimes recorded data.

Collision Reconstructionists are uniquely trained to take the investigation further into causation factors. Our investigators consider many factors prior to and after the collision, as well as, being trained to meticulously explain the details of a collision itself, where more events occur in 1/10th of a second than most can imagine.

For example, in a scenario where two vehicles collide at an intersection, a reconstructionist is interested in the pre-collision events. Where were the driver’s traveling from? Where was their intended destination? What was their frame of mind at time of departure? What do the cell phone records reveal prior to the collision? In addition and all too often, were the driver’s intoxicated?

Once these questions can be answered, the next issue at hand is the scene of the collision. Hopefully, this is where the responding police department has protected the scene for preservation of evidence and, subsequently, conducted a thorough investigation by obtaining all possible witness statements, marked any and all roadway evidence, and successfully measured the scene using a total station or other scene mapping equipment. These and others are all vital requirements for a successful private practice reconstructionist to review the case and identify any factors that may be important to a civil or criminal case. One rule to keep in mind is there is very seldom evidence not tampered with from bystanders or other emergency personnel whose primary job is not to preserve evidence but save lives.

While reviewing the results of the investigation or revisiting a scene, a reconstructionist must look for environmental factors such as was the sun at a position to blind a driver’s view, are there trees or other objects blocking a view of traffic, was the traffic regulating equipment working properly. We can then begin to look at the roadway makeup and condition at the time of the collision. Another factor to consider is contributing vehicle factors by the units involved. Are there any vehicle recalls and have the repairs been completed by an approved mechanic? Have there been any recent collisions that may have caused prior damage to a vehicle that made this specific wreck worse than it should have been? Was the vehicles equipment operating properly at the time of the collision?

In addition to these telling details is the vehicle damage. There is a very accurate story told by the damage that often cannot be altered. The principle direction of force or PDOF will fold a vehicles exterior in the direction the collision occurred. Reconstructionists can also tell which lights were on during a collision, even if they are off once the collision occurs (an affect called “hot shock”). In the case of law enforcement investigations, often a driver who wishes to avoid the fact that he was driving can be identified by a foot print left on a brake or accelerator pedal. A private reconstructionist must look at how law enforcement identified a person as the driver so appropriate liability can be assigned.

As you can see, a solid collision investigation can fill a large file of detailed reporting by someone who has received the proper training and has obtained the right experience for the needs of a client. Our investigators have responded on scene to thousands of collisions, many fatal, and have had the unique opportunity to observe the evidence minutes after the collision has occurred. This is unique our investigators who have law enforcement backgrounds, experienced in civil depositions and testimony, as well as, successful criminal cases.

A physicist or an engineer can calculate your data or explain the damage to vehicles based on principles and graphs, but our investigators have had the first hand experience that gives our clients the edge in a successful case. Our training has come from nationally prominent authorities in our field and our experience has come through being at the scene of every type of incident our clients may incur from single vehicle to a passenger car vs commercial vehicle. If there is a need for commercial vehicle inspections, we are also able to provide them when needed for an investigation at varying levels. In addition, we have the equipment, training, and ability to image event data recorders to obtain collision information such as seat-belt use, braking indicators, speed, airbag deployment, and much more.

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Sub Rosa is a term we use so often in the Workers’ Compensation community that it is surprising how many do not know the original meaning. Sub Rosa is a Latin term meaning “under the rose”.

The rose, a beautiful flower used to express love, is also the symbol of secrecy. In fact, in ancient Rome roses were hung from the ceiling of the great council chamber to pledge the assembly to secrecy. We also see the rose in early Christian symbolism. The image of a rose was often carved on confessionals, indicating that the act of confession between the priest and confessed would remain a secret.

Fast forward to today and the word Sub Rosa is used to describe surveillance or the secret act of watching a person or group. The use of Sub Rosa is one of the most powerful tools a claims professional has to document evidence. What is more damaging than someone caught on film cutting and stacking wood when hours earlier he was barely able to hobble into a doctor’s office? Film that catches a subject in unguarded moments will document the claimant’s true physical limitations and the confirmation of a fraud.

It is the claims professional’s responsibility, after much evaluation, to initiate the Sub Rosa investigation. However, some adjusters are very hesitant to request a surveillance especially if they have not had success in the past with obtaining film. But if you have strong evidence that fraud is likely, then you should commit the resources to establish a defense. Be sure to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve as well as what is possible within the law.

Keep in mind a Sub Rosa investigation involves many moving parts and unless you work with someone who is well trained, knowledgeable, experienced and a trusted professional you could end up with unusable video and a blown opportunity.

I’ve outlined a few tips to help get your Sub Rosa investigation going in the right direction. Preparation and knowledge is the key. Of course, not every situation is covered here, but if you employ these five steps, you are more likely to have a successful outcome.

Document your suspicion of fraud

Once you have identified a possible fraud, document it in your file. Recording your suspicions will help you to identify the fraud and work out a course of action. Using surveillance arbitrarily is unlawful. Only employ Sub Rosa when you have a reasonable suspicion of fraud.

Move on it quickly

A great way to botch an investigation is to wait too long to act. Once a reasonable suspicion has been established, talk to your investigator as soon as possible and plan a course of action together.

When you hire any vendor on your file you are hiring their expertise. You would not hesitate to question your attorney on a legal point or a doctor on a diagnosis, so don’t hesitate to ask the investigator what they think and make your decision based on their advice.

Provide up to date information

Our firm was asked to do surveillance on a man who was arriving at a downtown bus station. We reviewed the physical description and injury information with the client; they even provided a picture. We established the surveillance but the man was not on the bus. At least, the man in the picture did not arrive.

Actually, the man was on the bus but he didn’t fit the description and picture. We found out later that the information was five years old. The subject’s hair color was different and longer, he gained weight and had grown a beard. We did eventually re-establish the surveillance and obtained some good film, but valuable time and money were wasted.

Give your investigator accurate information. Take the extra step to verify descriptions and ask your insured for up to date photos or films of the claimant. The more information you provide, the better our chances to identify and film the right person.

Communicate with your investigator

Set aside time at the beginning of the assignment to talk with the investigator and go over the case information. Set up some ground rules about the amount of time authorized and how a request for additional time is handled. Coming to an understanding now will eliminate problems down the road.

Keep in contact with the investigator and update them with any new information when you receive it. Try to be available when they call or return calls quickly.

Authorize enough film to defend your case

Bottom line is that an investigator is aware of the amount of time you have authorized and they will try to allocate the time wisely, but there are periods when a subject will become active when the allocated time is almost out.

The investigator will usually call to request more time, but if you are not available they might continue or drop filming because there is no time left. Don’t let an opportunity slip by and damage your investigation. Allow some wiggle room for your investigator. Trust them to know what is needed to establish your case.

Let them know at the beginning of the investigation that they can go over the time requested (within reason and within certain situations) but they must continue to try to contact you. Most of the time, investigators will continue to film because it is in the best interest of the case.

Don’t beat them up when they have gone over the time, especially if they have good film.

Authorizing or not authoring additional film can also be a trust issue, but if you don’t trust the investigator to give you an accurate assessment, then you have another problem which needs to be addressed directly.

Be aware that an investigator will request at least two more days of filming if he/she has clear evidence of fraud. Allow the investigator to continue shooting for at least the next two days.

Bear in mind that one active day is not enough to prove fraud to a judge. You must show that the activity was not an unusual “one time event.” Another two days of activity will give you enough evidence to establish fraud.

Lastly, the length of the film should be enough to establish a true account of the claimant’s activities. Filming twenty minutes of a three hour baseball game is not enough time to represent a true account.

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Police on Tuesday scoured the area in Detroit where Bianca Jones was last reported seen, searching for any signs of the missing 2-year-old girl.

Bianca was reportedly traveling with her father in a 2004 silver Mercury Grand Marquis on Friday when they were carjacked, said Sgt. Eren Stephens, a spokeswoman with Detroit police.

“The suspect took off in the car with her in it,” she said, citing what the father told authorities.

The vehicle was subsequently recovered, but the girl remains missing.

However, Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. said in a statement over the weekend that the “authenticity and credibility of the original version of events is under intense scrutiny by our investigative team,” seeming to suggest that police do not believe what the father told them happened.

Bianca is described as African-American, 2 feet, 5 inches tall, 25 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink dress, pink tights, pink shoes and a purple coat, according to an Amber Alert issued last week by the Michigan State Police.

Her father, D’Andre Lane, spoke to HLN’s Nancy Grace on Tuesday night, begging whoever took his daughter to bring her back.

“I don’t care about anything else that’s going on right now but my daughter’s safe return home to her family,” he said. “I just want my daughter back home.”

Lane appeared alongside his attorney, Terry L. Johnson, who said his client gave police permission to enter his home and has fully cooperated in the investigation.

Stephens declined to say whether police have searched Lane’s house.

“My daughter is a beautiful little girl. She has a bright personality. She’s the type of person that lights up a room when she walks in it. She’s very intelligent,” Lane told HLN’s Grace. “She’s just a wonderful little girl to be around.”

About 150 volunteers turned out on Monday to help look for Bianca, said Stephens, who also declined to comment on whether they or police had found anything useful.

She urged anyone with information on the possible whereabouts of the little girl to contact Detroit police.

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TAMPA – Tonight, there are missing children out on the streets who may never be found. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children lists 285 Florida children as currently missing and endangered.

The I-Team has been able to locate 16 missing children as part of an ongoing investigation. It didn’t take private investigators, hours of combing through public records, or interviews with friends and family.

We found them when we discovered that many missing children have active Facebook pages. Many post where they are living, who they are with, photos, and even phone numbers. All of that information provides clues that could help bring the child to safety.

By reaching out to them on Facebook, I-Team investigator Michael George has been able to interview several missing children on the phone, online, and in person. The stories they told us raise questions about how much is being done to find them, and why they are still considered missing even after we found them so easily.

Alisha Lollis is one of Florida’s missing runaways. She was reported missing in July of 2010 after she ran from a group home. St. Petersburg Police say they had contact with her earlier this year, but she is still considered missing and endangered by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

We found her hiding in plain sight, living with a friend in Pinellas Park.

“What did you think when you heard from us?” asked investigator Michael George.

“I was like, wow. They found me after all this time? It was amazing,” Lollis said.

Lollis recently turned 18. Because her whereabouts and safety are unknown to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, she is still considered an endangered runaway.

She told us she was safe and doing well. She bounced from house to house, never staying in one place for too long. She says she’s overcome drug abuse, and she’s working to get her GED. But the road has been difficult.

“Let’s put it this way. I’ve been to like 13 different schools,” Lollis said.

A 15-year old runaway from Clearwater spoke with us online.

“Are you ok? Not in any danger?” George asked.

“yes im fine not in any danger i got the street smarts to keep myself safe,” she wrote back. She also told us she’s not in school and doesn’t have a job.

The children we located have been missing for months, and in some cases, years. We found them in just minutes by searching for them on Facebook. Some of the missing children wouldn’t speak with us, but the ones who did all told us no one had tried to locate them through Facebook before.

We passed along the information we found to FDLE, police departments and sheriff’s offices across Florida.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) say they do use Facebook to try and locate missing teens, as do local law enforcement agencies. But they add that teens who run away over and over again aren’t always a top priority for overworked police departments.

“That’s reality. You have agencies that have homicides, they have shootings, they have armed robberies, lots of priorities in the community,” said Robert Lowery, executive director of the missing child division of NCMEC.

Every law enforcement agency we spoke with insisted finding runaways is a priority and they use Facebook to find them. But they don’t contact them through their page, knowing that many runaways would simply block the page if they didn’t want to be found.

The Clearwater Police Department says they put a greater focus on locating runaways than most police departments. They say they often monitor and communicate with missing children on Facebook.

Authorities also argue that just because we found their Facebook pages doesn’t mean they’ll find the child.

“What we’ve found is a lot of times, the information kids post is not always current, or, they’re smart about it. If it’s a case where they don’t want to be found, maybe they’re not posting exactly the correct information,” said Clearwater Police Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts.

So why haven’t police made contact with the children we found? The answer may come from why they ran in the first place.

Many of the missing teens who spoke with Michael George said they’re running away from abuse, even rape. They said in no uncertain terms that they didn’t want to be found. They believed they were better off on their own.

Alisha Lollis said she’s been in hiding since facing physical abuse in her group home. A 16-year old runaway agreed to talk with us online, in the hopes that it would help us locate other missing kids.

But she also told us, “I know you’re a reporter, but if you get the cops involved you’re going to do a story on a 16-year old who died because you told the cops.”

She wouldn’t reveal her exact location. Lollis says she knows what the teen is going through.

“Is there any advice that you would have for them?” asked George.

“Go public. Don’t be scared about what people could say about you or what you’re going to go through,” Lollis said.

Lollis believes law enforcement could do more to locate repeat runaways.

“I know that when I ran away, I wanted someone to find me. I wanted someone to care enough to go looking for me. But that never happened,” Lollis said.

The I-Team is working to contact the parents of the children we located. But in some cases, the parents are harder to find than their missing children. Law enforcement tells us in at least some of the cases we uncovered, the parents lost custody of their children.

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