For Families & Individuals
Private investigators for families in pursuit of answers.
IRIS is an incident response team of investigative strategy experts — retired major crimes detectives, forensic scientists, and trackers — committed to finding answers while navigating complex criminal and civil cases.
Confidential and no obligation · Read by an investigator, not a call center
Our team’s casework has been featured by
What we take on
The cases most firms are not built for.
If you are searching for a private investigator, you have probably found a lot of firms that all describe the same work. This is the work we actually do.
A case that has gone cold
Unresolved homicides and suspicious deaths where the file is still open but nothing has moved in years.
How this worksSomeone who is still missing
Missing persons work — search strategy, ground search, and the investigative side that runs alongside it.
How this worksEvidence that was never fully worked
DNA and investigative genetic genealogy applied to evidence that predates the technology now available.
How this worksA death ruled too quickly
Independent review of an unresolved or questioned death, led by retired homicide detectives.
How this worksVideo, audio, or photos no one has examined
Digital and multimedia forensics — documenting, restoring, and analyzing the record that already exists.
How this worksA search area no one has narrowed
Geographic profiling and visual tracking to prioritize where a search should actually be looking.
How this worksWhy we do this
Supporting loved ones of victims in pursuit of answers.
Some families reach us in the first days, when everything is moving quickly and nothing is clear yet. Others have carried the case alone for years — the calls stopped being returned, the detective who knew it best retired, and the file never closed. It just went quiet.
Both are the right time to call. Early on, the work is making sure nothing is lost while it can still be recovered. Later, it's looking at the whole file again with disciplines the original investigation never had access to. Either way, the job is the same: to say plainly what is possible.
We won't promise you an outcome. Anyone who does is selling something. What we will do is tell you the truth about what the evidence can support — and if there is a path, we will work it with the same rigor we brought to these cases while wearing a badge.
“What is not looked for will not be found.”
Our capabilities
Nine disciplines. One case team.
Most investigations fail for one reason: a single perspective. Every IRIS case can draw on all of ours.
- Cold Case Investigation A fresh, forensic review of the case everyone else set down.
- Missing Persons Investigation, search strategy, and tracking for the people still unaccounted for.
- Forensic DNA & Genetic Genealogy The science that resolved a 30-year-old murder, applied to your case.
- Digital & Multimedia Forensics Video, audio, and photographic evidence documented, restored, and analyzed.
- Criminal Profiling & Behavioral Analysis Offender and behavioral analysis from an investigative criminologist.
- Geographic Profiling Spatial analysis that narrows the search — using a model our own analyst developed.
- Homicide & Unresolved Death Independent review led by retired homicide detectives.
- Visual Tracking & Search Operations Court-recognized tracking expertise and large-scale search command.
- Legal & Litigation Support Investigation and expert testimony for attorneys, built for scrutiny.
The Difference
Most cases don't need a bigger PI firm. They need a different kind of team.
A typical private investigation firm
- One investigator, or a small generalist staff
- Built for surveillance, records checks, and domestic cases
- Forensic work sent out — or not done at all
- Limited exposure to homicide and missing persons casework
The IRIS case team
- Ten specialists available to a single case
- Led by a 34-year major crimes detective
- DNA, behavioral, geographic, digital, and tracking expertise in-house
- Careers spent leading homicide, cold case, and missing persons investigations
The Record
Before IRIS, our team led investigations you've read about.
The cases below were led or supported by IRIS team members during their law-enforcement careers — the same experience we bring to every private case.
Solved after three decades
Sarah Yarborough
Our founder led the cold case investigation that identified Sarah's killer through forensic genetic genealogy. Convicted, 2023.
ABC News — opens in a new tabFeatured on Dateline NBC
Nikki Pietz
Investigation and forensic tracking examination in the 2006 murder of Nicole Pietz. Her husband was convicted in 2013.
ABC News — opens in a new tabRemains recovered
The Knotek Case
Weeks overseeing the search of the Knotek property — recovering human remains and the forensic evidence that linked them.
The Seattle Times — opens in a new tabOne of America's largest serial murder investigations
Green River / Gary Ridgway
Oversaw the evidence search at Ridgway's residence and coordinated searches for victims' remains for years afterward.
CNN — opens in a new tab
How It Works
What happens when you reach out
You tell us about the case — confidentially.
Call or send a secure note. It's read by an investigator, not a call center.
We review it honestly.
Our specialists assess what's genuinely possible. If we don't believe we can help, we'll say so.
We go to work.
A scoped, documented investigation — defensible methods, clear reporting, and communication you can count on.
Partnership
No family should be priced out of an answer.
That's why we partner with The Lindsey Baum Foundation — opens in a new tab, a 501(c)(3) that facilitates and funds investigations for families of unsolved murders and missing persons — including expert services such as search and recovery, DNA analysis, and criminal profiling.
Between the Foundation's support and how we scope our own work, we help as many families as we possibly can. Tell us what you're facing before you rule us out.
Visit the Lindsey Baum Foundation — opens in a new tab Our partner
A 501(c)(3) funding expert investigation for families of the missing and the unsolved.
Integrity & Confidentiality
IRIS maintains the highest standards of integrity and confidentiality.
What you tell us is not shared, sold, or discussed. Your inquiry goes to an investigator on this team. A number of our engagements are covered by non-disclosure agreements and are never spoken about at all — including to press.
Before you call
The questions families actually ask.
When is the right time to bring you in?
Earlier than most people think, and later than most people fear. In the first days, physical evidence, scene conditions, and witness memory are all perishable — that is when a search strategy and an independent set of eyes do the most good. But a case that is already years old is not beyond reach either. There is no stage at which a conversation costs you anything.
Do I have to give up on the detectives working the case?
No — and we'd rather you didn't. Our team spent their careers inside agencies, and the goal is to support an official investigation, not to compete with it. Families reach us at very different points: some in the first week, some after years of silence. In both cases the work runs alongside the people holding the file, not against them.
The case is years old. Is it too late?
Age alone doesn't close a case. The Sarah Yarborough investigation was resolved thirty-two years after the murder, because evidence collected in 1991 was re-examined as the science caught up. What matters is what evidence exists and whether it has been re-worked — that's the first thing a review establishes.
Will you tell me if you can't help?
Yes, and we'd tell you early. A review that concludes there's no viable path forward is a real answer, and you should not pay to find that out slowly. If we don't believe we can move the case, we'll say so.
Is there help with the cost?
There can be. We partner with The Lindsey Baum Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that facilitates and funds investigations for families of unsolved murders and missing persons — including expert services like search and recovery, DNA analysis, and criminal profiling. If cost is the obstacle, say so when you contact us.
Will anything I tell you stay private?
Yes. IRIS maintains the highest standards of integrity and confidentiality. Your inquiry is read by an investigator, it isn't shared or sold, and a number of our engagements are covered by non-disclosure agreements and are never discussed at all.
Confidential Case Review
Tell us what happened. We'll tell you what's possible.
Your inquiry is confidential and carries no obligation. We take on complex cases that need more than a records search.
- Read by an investigator Your note goes to the team that would work the case — not a call center.
- Completely confidential We don't share, sell, or discuss your inquiry with anyone.