Now Serving Rochester, NY

Mission Possible Investigations continues to see success and growth in many service and coverage areas throughout New York State. Mission Possible Investigations now offers the same Top Notch services you would expect in a Private Investigations Firm out of Rochester, NY. Our new mailing address in Rochester, NY is PO Box 92562 Rochester, NY 14692. For more information regarding updated services see our website at www.mpinvestigations.com

Mission Possible Investigations in search of Family Treasured Rowing Shell

“For most people, it would simply be a well crafted rowing shell but for our family, it’s a part of my father and our family history. Finding it would mean everything to us.” Eric Loew

Albany, New York – “For most people, it would simply be a well crafted rowing shell, but for our family, it’s a part of my father and our family history. Finding it so we can purchase it back would mean everything to us,” said Eric Loew.

When Eric was 13, he and his father, Richard spent three painstaking years handcrafting the rowing shell. The shell was built in the basement of the family home where Richard had an extensive workshop in the basement. There, father and son built the shell together – of many things they made, the biggest item ever, in terms of length anyway. The shell was constructed of 1/16th inch thick cedar, in three layers over the mold. Two layers were put down diagonally and one lengthwise. Each strip was cut specially to fit just right, and stapled to the mold while the glue hardened. Then the staples were taken out, and the process repeated. Each layer was laminated to the layer below with epoxy. Initials reading RTL carved into the shell was a finishing touch.

It was a time consuming and lengthy process but worth it when the family spent countless hours rowing together on the Great Sacandaga Lake; spending time together and creating long lasting memories. Jean, Eric’s sister reminisces, “Early mornings were the best times to be out there, when the lake was like glass and mist was rising up out of the bay. I even have beautiful pictures from my wedding day of my father and other family using the shell on the lake.”

Then tragically in December 1991, Richard died following a car accident. Shortly after in 1992, Eric’s mother, in shock over her husband’s death. made the tough decision to sell the rowing shell. While Mission Possible Investigations was able to track down the woman who originally purchased the rowing shell from the Loews that’s where the trail runs cold. All that’s known at this time is that the shell was resold in the Capital District area a few years after the original sale in 1992. Little to nothing is known about the rowing shell’s current location-- a fact that saddens the family and frustrates investigators.

Mission Possible Investigations continues to look for the rowing shell, following up on the few leads left and contacting some rowing associations as a final option. Investigators are asking for community support in locating the shell. The last known purchase date was in the mid-1990s and was purchased in the Capital District.

Jean, Eric’s sister expressed the meaning of finding the rowing shell for their family, “The shell is a piece of my father. It was something he worked on, loved, enjoyed and was immensely proud of. I know I can never see him rowing his shell again on the lake, and that breaks my heart.” Jean adds, “What I want now is to see my brother, my children, who never met their grandfather, and others who knew and loved my father, gliding across the water in his shell. In a way, it would be bringing a piece of him back.”

For more information about Mission Possible Investigations please go to www.mpinvestigations.com and to provide investigators with details on the location or information leading to the location of the rowing shell, please call 518-708-1219.

Searching for David Campbell

We recently took a pro bono case to help a local historian track down a photographer he has not seen in several years. The historian Don Rittner would like to find this photog David Campbell to potentially buy some of his work of the Capital District specifically the Troy area. The last time Don saw David was in downtown Troy in 2001. Don had some specific areas this man may have lived including; Troy, Waterford, Hoosick Falls and some areas of Florida. This photog is roughly between 60-early 70s in age. We have no other information to go on in our search. Our PI databases that we have access to have been of no help because we have so little identifying information. We have several calls out to people we know but we decided this might be the perfect case to get the community involved. If you should know this man or even know of someone who may know of him, please contact our office at 708-1219.

Facebook Fan Page

Mission Possible Investigations just created our first ever fan page on Facebook. Join our page, learn about our day to day updates and leave us messages. We will also be using Facebook to help our work on certain cases. Join our social networking team!

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Safety Tips for Stalking Victims

Here are my promised safety tips if you are being stalked. Its recycled from a post from last year but still really valuable information.

Know the early warning signs --Always use your instincts. If something in someone else's behavior causes you concern or fear, don't dismiss those feelings and break off contact early on. It's often better to hurt someone's feelings then be terrorized later. It's important to set firm clear boundaries and stick to them especially in the face of erratic behavior. Plan for safety and seek help.

Know your surroundings and begin to look at how safe you are at home, work and other places you frequent. Creating a plan for safety is important before something should happen. Talk to law enforcement, victim services or a private investigator that can help you assess safety in your home, workplace and in your travels. Talk to those around you and let them know what's going on and provide a picture of the stalker if you have one. The more support you have the better. If a stalker is bothering friends or family, make sure they have a safety plan too. Issue a no-contact statement only once.

In order to have and build a legal case, the stalker must hear or read on one occasion that you do not want any contact. This must be done only once. Any contact on your part after the no contact statement will only be viewed by the stalker as hope and they will persist. A stalker will assume if you break the no contact once, you may do it again and the will continue.

Document, Document, Document: Often it is up to the victim to start the evidence collection to generate a police report and legal case. It is important that you document everything that occurs. The time, date, type of contact and context of the contact should be recorded in a journal. Write down what happens and keep this with you. Save voice mails, e-mails, texts, instant messages and any other form of communication you receive. If the stalker calls 100 times each day, note the times and dates of the calls. This begins to lay the foundation for your legal case. Identify where your personal information can be found

Google yourself and note what personal information you have out there. If you can find it, so can anyone else. Note where else personal information about you can be found; phone companies, utilities, rent or own your home, internet, social networking sites and other sources like credit card companies or even your local gym. Talk to all your sources and let them know you have some privacy concerns. Ask how you can keep your information private even if someone calls identifying themselves as you. It's important to remember that the stalker may have personal identifying information about you already like your name, address, social security number or other passwords that can help them gain other information illegally.

Assess your technology use and how that factors in and make sure that you are not putting too much personal information over the Internet. Its one of the easiest, free ways people gather information. What other forms of technology are you using on a regular basis such as the computers or cell phones. Technology is often a stalker's best friend. With the use of GPS, spyware
and cell phone tracking sometimes stalkers don't even need to leave their homes to know exactly where you are and your activities. If you suspect that your stalker is using these types of technology, seek help from experts to assess your situation.