For private investigator Dave Jones, a typical workday might begin with a 2:30am alarm. He grabs a pre-packed 'grab bag' with essentials and heads out into the darkness, ready for a surveillance operation that could last 14 hours or involve a cross-country pursuit. His job, he admits, is a unique blend of the fascinating and the ruthlessly boring, involving long stretches of watching and waiting with covert cameras, listening devices, and drones.
The Heartbreaking and the Deceitful: From Vanishing Fathers to Double Lives
Over 15 years, Dave's work with Reveal PI has involved tracing missing persons, investigating fraudulent employees, and, most commonly, following cheating partners. He estimates that around 40% of his caseload involves infidelity, and the stories are often more shocking than fiction. "You would be surprised how many married people have whole secret families living just down the road from them," he reveals.
One particularly cruel case involved a woman named Elena*. After meeting a man named Leo* online and falling pregnant, he vanished, changing his name and number. Dave's investigation found Leo had fabricated his entire identity. After weeks of door-knocking and database searches, Dave tracked him down using a birthday clue. The outcome was bleak: Leo wanted nothing to do with his unborn child. Elena simply needed his real name for the birth certificate.
In another case, a multi-millionaire businessman named Caleb* asked Dave to verify the background of his younger Polish girlfriend, Maya*. Caleb supported her financially, believing she came from poverty. Surveillance in Poland, however, revealed a luxurious city-centre apartment, an Audi, and a pattern of being picked up by a blacked-out Mercedes for precisely timed visits to a villa. Dave concluded Maya was secretly working as an escort. Delivering the truth was difficult, but Caleb was grateful, though heartbroken, to finally know.
Unmasking Fraud: The Side Hustle and the Fake Paraplegic
Not all cases are about relationships. Andy*, a business owner, contacted Dave suspecting his long-time manager, Steven*, was stealing from his industrial cleaning firm. Steven was allegedly inflating client quotes, then doing the work privately for cash, while also stealing stock. With Steven controlling the CCTV, proof was elusive.
Dave's team broke in overnight, rebooting the CCTV and planting a tiny 1.5mm lens camera inside a box of stock. The footage, combined with drone surveillance showing Steven at client sites, was damning. Operatives even used 2mm pinhole cameras in shirt buttons to record him discussing jobs in chip shops. Steven confessed immediately when confronted, having cost the business an estimated £200,000 in lost earnings and reputational damage.
In a case of benefit fraud, a council hired Dave to investigate Daniel*, who claimed to be a paraplegic receiving full disability benefits and requiring a live-in carer. After days of surveillance, Dave filmed Daniel walking 40 metres unassisted, "almost with a swagger," before returning home to hobble theatrically with his frame. At the court hearing, Daniel arrived in an electric wheelchair, his head lolling. The footage of him walking provided an unequivocal lie, leading to fraud charges. "He was wasting everyone's time and stealing from the public purse," Dave states.
The Emotional Toll and Reward of Truth
Dave finds family cases particularly hard, but derives immense satisfaction from providing answers, especially for those who have been gaslit. "When we get proof and they can give it to their family and prove those lies, it is really rewarding," he says. The job requires patience, high-tech gear, and a strong stomach for both monotony and shocking revelations. From secret families to elaborate cons, Dave Jones has seen the hidden sides of British life that most would never believe.
*Names have been changed.
