I wanted to take this opportunity to formally commend and recommend the services provided by Tom Lauth (Lauth and Associates). My family and I recently worked with Tom regarding my sister and nephew who had been missing for almost two years.
Tom was the second investigator who worked the case. Based on the excellent service we experienced, r sincerely regret that we did not work with him initially.
I found Tom to be extremely knowledgeable, professional and emphatic. I immediately felt comfortable in confiding in him. In response, Tom offered a complete plan, with accurate cost disclosures and regular substantive updates.
Most importantly, Tom did exactly what he promised to do, on time and within the estimated budget that we initially discussed. Thanks to his efforts, we were able to speak with both missing parties for the first time since spring, 2003.
Tom is an absolute gem. I strongly recommend him to anyone who may find him or herself in the unfortunate circumstance of losing contact with a loved one. Thus, my family and I have no hesitancy whatsoever about continuing to use his services, as we move into the next phase of the investigation.
Thank you again for the referral and for providing a much needed public resource service. God Bless!
The National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA), a division of the Nation’s Missing Children Organization, Inc. provides assistance to families and law enforcement in the search for missing persons. NCMA is a federally and publicly supported nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of abduction and the safe recovery of missing persons with primary focus on adults determined by law enforcement to be endangered due to foul play, diminished mental capacity, physical disability or suspicious circumstances.
NCMA does not investigate leads and is considered a support to law enforcement in efforts to generate new information assisting investigators with the progression of the investigation. Any information provided to this agency is Immediately forwarded to the responsible law enforcement agency. NCMA networks Information with other missing person agencies such as your own, medical facilities, medical examiners and law enforcement agencies nationwide.
One of the many resources we offer to families of missing persons Is to utilize the services of a Private Investigator when we are not able to assist. Since Its inception in 1994, this organization has only referred Thomas Lauth of Lauth & Associates Investigations, Inc. to families seeking the assistance of a Private Investigator on a frequent basis. He has proven himself to be very reputable and successful at the cases we refer to him. He has also reunited many families that our organization has recommended to him.
Mr. Lauth credentials indicate that he has a high success rate at locating individuals
and we have also found this to be true. He not only utilizes various resources to hel p locate Individuals, but he frequently follows up with them after they are located to see how they are transitioning.
We will continue to utilize Thomas Lauth’s services in the future. His assistance with this organization and the many families of missing persons that we refer him to give hope to the possibility that these families will once again be able to hold their loved ones In their arms. We highly recommend the services he provides to these families of missing persons.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter, please feel free to contact us. We can be reached at 1-800-690-3463. Thank you.
After the abduction to the USA Jasmin and Felix are looking forward to return to their school.
On Monday Felix (6) and Jasmin (9) finally return to their school. They are looking forward to their friends, the teachers and sports. Three months ago the father abducted the children to the USA.
by Juergen Lauterbach
Exhausting weeks lie behind Susanne N. (42). For a long time she did not know to where the father, living separated from her, abducted the children and how they are doing. By her own initiative and the help of her family, lady-attorneys and a detective Susanne N. found her children in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since one week mother and children are back home.
With each day Felix and Jasmin get better accustomed to their old surroundings in the grandparents’ house, says the mother. “Jasmin can hardly wait to go back to school on Monday, see her friends and do acrobatics.”
What the children experienced since February 15, Susanne N. gets to know in small portions. She uses no pressure, she rather waits until they tell her, for example about the yellow American school bus which took them to school in Charlotte, or about bowling trips.
On that Sunday in February Susanne N. wanted to pick up her children. But Erico N. secretly had flown with them to Charlotte where friends of the family are living. Susanne N. quickly realized that something was fishy and informed the police. With their help she went into the husband’s apartment. For camouflage he had left the lights on and the TV set was running.
Now a constant up and down started for the pharmacist Susanne N.: “At first it all was like a nightmare. Then I thought I would never see my children again. Then I believed it would all be a matter of time and we only had to be active and determined.”
Being supported by her parents and sisters she approached authorities, found experienced lawyers in Germany and the USA, contacted the American embassy, found out which organisations help in such abduction cases.
Susanne N. was optimistic since obviously the FBI was involved. But for weeks on end nothing happened, she got no information, she did not hear from her beloved ones.
Since nothing happened, the woman decided to search on her own. The organisation “Committee for Missing Children” supports people in such a crisis. So Susanne N. heard about private detective Thomas Lauth from Indianapolis who had been successful in similar cases. Lauth only needed two days to discover Felix and Jasmin in Charlotte.
Easter Sunday Susanne N. was at her computer and investigated. The phone rang, the detective was on the phone. Her heart was racing when she heard the relieving message. Together with her mother she went to the States.
When they arrived, the police had already taken the children out of school and brought them to a foster family. The mother could see the children only three days later – one supervised hour at the social welfare office. “Jasmin talked like a waterfall while Felix sat on my lap”, she says.
Pretty soon the judge decided that the children were allowed to see the mother at her hotel. Until the court hearing on May 1 they distracted themselves by going on trips. On the computer they watched their grandfather in front of the camera playing with their beloved mongrel Alegra and making faces.
The hearing took a good four hours during which the father, born in Brazil and being US-American, stated that he and the children were exposed to discrimination in Germany. It took the court five days to make a positive decision for mother and children. As fast as possible the family flew back to Germany, without the father. Susanne N. knows that the children love their father and vice versa. For their sake he shall have visitation in the future – after appropriate precautions.
Susanne N. has made a first résumé of the chaotic weeks. She had lost six weeks because she relied on the authorities. “Police, youth welfare office, embassy, Federal Office of Justice are necessary, but don’t help searching”, she says and adds: “You yourself have to take the first steps, take care and take advantage of the experience of others.”
The Committee for Missing Children, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) Charity with offices in Lawrenceville, Georgia and Langenselbold, Germany. We have offered assistance to parents who have had their children abducted or go missing both domestically or internationally for over seventeen years.
We offer both counseling and financial assistance to parents who have suffered the loss of a child through abduction. One aspect of our assistance is the actual locating of the children. To do this we may have to rely on a professional investigator who specializes in child abduction and who has the resources and knowledge to assist in locating the abductor as well as the children.
Thomas Lauth, an investigator who specializes in missing children and adults, has been one of the most reliable and imaginative investigators we have found to date. Mr. Lauth’s experience with our organization, as well as work he has done for the National Center for Missing Adults, has proven to be invaluable in the locating of abductors and bringing children and adults home.
Mr. Lauth’s impressive list of successes as well as his passion for the “left-behind parent” makes him more than qualified to work in the area of child abduction. I would not hesitate to recommend Mr. Lauth lo any parent who has lost a child. T personally feel that it is Mr. Lauth’s feelings for the children that separate him from so many other investigators.
If there is a need for additional information about Mr. Lauth or his services please feel free to contact me at 1-800-525-8204.
It’s a rather startling number. At any given time, there are between 100,000 and 300,000 children in the U.S. alone at risk for child sex trafficking. While many people tend to think this horrific crime is something that only occurs in third world countries, they are sadly mistaken. This modern day form of slavery is alive and well in our own backyards. Girls are not the only targets either—so are boys.
“These are not children living in some faraway place, far from everyday life,” FBI Director James Comey stated. “These are our children. On our streets. Our truck stops. Our motels. These are America’s children. They are not for sale”
The Facts
To put the problem in perspective, consider these alarming numbers:
75% of underage sex trafficking victims said they had been advertised or sold online.
A pimp can make $150,000-$200,000 per child each year and exploits an average of 4-6 girls.
325,000 children are at risk for becoming victims of sexual exploitation in the United States.
The average age of entry into the sex trade in America is 12 – 14 years old.
U.S. Cities Notorious For Sex Trafficking
In 2003 as a part of its Innocence Lost National Initiative, the FBI identified 18 U.S. cities where child prostitution is a major problem. Atlanta ranked number one on the list—a number city and community leaders are obviously not too happy about. However, they’re determined to combat the problem head on.
“It’s a moral evil. It’s a moral cancer in the midst of a great city, and it’s something as a faith-based community are trying to address,” stated Cheryl Deluca-Johnson with the non-profit group Street Grace
Her organization is a non-denominational alliance of churches, community partners, and volunteers whose goal is to bring an end to commercial sexual exploitation in Atlanta and duplicate these efforts in cities across America.
“One of our initiatives is supporting at-risk neighborhoods,” she stated. “We know that if all we do is rescue rather than prevent children from entering it in the first place, then we’ll increase the number of children affected by it.”
Of course, Atlanta is not the only city grappling with this massive problem. According to the FBI, the other following cities are hubs for human trafficking:
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Knoxville
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Milwaukee
New Orleans
Norfolk
Omaha
Pittsburgh
Portland
Sacramento
San Diego
Seattle
Grooming: What It Is
Grooming is the process by which an offender draws a victim into a sexual relationship and maintains that relationship in secrecy. The shrouding of the relationship is an essential feature of grooming.
The grooming sex offender works to separate the victim from peers, typically by engendering in the child a sense that they are special to the child and giving a kind of love to the child that the child needs.
According to the organization, 68 percent of these likely sex trafficking victims were in the care of social services or foster care when they ran. However, victims could be anyone—your son, your daughter, neighbor, niece or nephew.
The Warning Signs
It’s not uncommon for a law enforcement officer to list a child as a runaway rather than endangered and a victim of sex trafficking. That’s why it’s so important to pay close attention to these ten warning signs below:
1. Unknown numbers on phone bills or unexpected credit card charges
It’s important that parents are attentive to a child’s phone bills. In an open and honest environment, it can be helpful to sit down and go over the charges/call with the child to learn who they’re interacting with.
2. Going missing from home at odd hours or for days
Although this warning sign may see somewhat obvious, it is usually the excuse or reasoning behind their absence or location that is cause or concern. Keep in mind that trafficker want to conceal the child’s activities by using threats or force, making it harder to verify their whereabouts.
3. Unexplained relationships or interactions with older adults
These types of relationships are clearly inappropriate, but the underlying danger is that the older individual could be manipulating or forcing the child to perform sexual acts or favors.
4. Alcohol or drug use
Alcohol and drugs are common ways that traffickers recruit children into the sex industry. The goal of the trafficker is to diminish a child’s natural resistance to unnatural situations and/or to get victims addicted so that they will do anything to get their next fix.
5. Bruising
Any signs of physical or sexual abuse are major causes for concern. Adults should be aware that predators seek anonymity; therefore, external signs of abuse may be hard to identify. More likely, evidence of abuse shows up in changes in behavior or emotions.
6. Delinquent behaviors or increase of criminal activity
Trafficked victims are not just forced to perform sexual favors. Traffickers force victims to steal, lie, cheat or con in addition to selling themselves. Many times, the victims are not engaging in these activities themselves but rather for the older adult.
7. Withdrawal or loss of interest in age appropriate activities
Children at risk of becoming victims exhibit low self-esteem and poor self-image. Predators will prey on children by convincing them that they are valued, thereby luring them away from normal activities and social interactions.
8. Sudden increase in absences and tardiness from school
If a child is not attending school or suddenly begins to miss a lot of school, then they are likely with someone else. Predators will seek to draw children away from activities that they don’t really like to convince them that more enjoyable activities can be had away from supervision.
9. New “street name”
Predators will convince children to go by other “street names” or pet names in order to conceal their identity and age.
10. Sudden change in dressing patterns, personal hygiene or grooming
This warning sign is not a typical teenager showing interest in make-up or nicer clothes. This is a sudden and drastic change in their appearance and grooming habits.
Need Help?
Lauth Investigations and Thomas Lauth are experts in helping families locate missing loved ones.
While each missing persons case is different and results will vary, Lauth has been helping families for more than 20 years and boasts nearly an 85% success rate.
If you or someone you know need assistance, call them today at 1.800.889.FIND or 317.951.1100
U.S. cities where child prostitution is a major problem. Atlanta ranked number one on the list—a number city and community leaders are obviously not too happy about. However, they’re determined to combat the problem head on.
“One of our initiatives is supporting at-risk neighborhoods,” 
