Sherlock Holmes she is not, but Carrie Kerskie, president of the Naples-based private investigator agency Marcone Investigations, knows a thing or two about sleuthing. Previously a financial advisor and an agent for Nationwide Insurance, Kerskie turned three years ago to the private-eye biz. Now she investigates cases dealing with corporate services, infidelity, kidnappings and more.
How did you get involved with private investigating?
I was teaching adult education at Lorenzo Walker [Institute of Technology], where I met the owner of [Marcone Investigations]. He had a law enforcement background, and he needed somebody who had the financial and insurance [knowledge] to help with cases.
What types of things do you do on a daily basis?
A little bit of everything. I go out in the field to do surveillance, and I have a team of investigators that help me with all the cases. We pull records from the sheriff’s department and the circuit courts. We also do a bunch of surveillance work and online research.
Can you describe a case you’ve investigated?
One was an international adoption gone wrong. The [adoptive] parents contacted me in October 2006 because they were trying to locate the child, and nobody else they called—the local sheriff’s department, police department and the FBI—would help them. I had a contact in the Department of Homeland Security whom I shared the information with, and it warranted them opening an investigation. Then on Super Bowl Sunday of ’07, I got the call saying that they recovered the child. That was one of my favorite ones because it was good news. We don’t get a lot of happy endings.
Your agency sells a camera detector called Spy Finder on its Web site (www.naplespi.com). Do you use these often in your investigations?
We use it any time we do a sweep of a business. A simple Google search for hidden cameras in public spaces will reveal a laundry list of actual cases. The thing people need to be concerned about is not the question of, "Who would want to see me?" It’s the fact that you don’t know what they’re doing with that information.
Is there any truth to the portrayal of private eyes on TV?
When you see them on TV trespassing, breaking into houses, hacking into computers—we cannot do any of that. We have to abide by the laws just like anybody else does. There are occasions when you’re trying to get the evidence and you may be lying under a car or hiding behind a bush, but otherwise, it’s nothing like you see on TV.
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