By Oleg Tarasenko, Bored Panda staff
Published: July 2022 | Originally published on BoredPanda.com

What associations do you have with the words “private detective”? Probably big guns, fast cars, dashing chases with some crazy gunfights, brilliant brainstorming — in general, everything shown in TV shows and detective films. In real life, as often happens, everything is much less intense.

In fact, the greater part of the cases that private investigators have to deal with is insurance fraud and allegations of adultery. Yes, and their work for the most part consists of the usual surveillance and sitting in the archives. And yet, sometimes things worthy of the pen of Agatha Christie or Rex Stout slip through this routine.

There is a popular thread in the AskReddit community whose starter asked just one simple question: “Redditors who have hired a private investigator… what did you find out?” Usually, as we have said, the answers are related to marital or insurance investigations – but even here, there are incredibly thrilling plots.

Bored Panda compiled a selection of the most popular, unexpected and interesting answers and stories from those who responded to this thread. So feel free to scroll to the very end, read all the tales, and be sure to comment — after all, it’s elementary!

#1
PI Helps To Find Person’s Homeless Mom
Hadn’t heard from my mom since I was about 15 (very unstable due to drugs n alcohol etc) … When I was 29 I decided it was time to find out what happened to her. I figured if she was a Jane Doe somewhere then I could put her to rest, and if she was alive then I wanted to let her know that I forgave her. Hired a PI to help… I guess she was moved by my story and so she also ran info for the man my mother was apparently married to (on the house) … And with one clue from his report I was able to track them down. I wouldn’t have found my mom (alive and was just starting out on recovery after being homeless and addicted for many many years) if it wasn’t for the PI who kindly ran an extra report for free. (Mom has remained sober now for about 7 years and is probably the healthiest she’s ever been, physically and emotionally).

#2
Owners Hired Pet Detective To Find A Lost Cat
I know someone that hired a pet detective to find their cat and he f****n found him.

#3
It Turned Out That The Allegedly Unfaithful Husband Was Actually Secretly Renovating A New House For His Wife
Not me, but a friend hired one because he was suspicious his stepdad was being unfaithful to his mom. So, he asked me, and I put him in contact with a guy I knew.

Bit of a backstory, the stepdad is 5’10”, 160ish pounds. My friend is 6’2” 235 pounds, ripped. At 15, when my friend’s mom and stepdad started dating, my friend gave the the typical “you hurt her, you’re dead” speech. Also his bio dad walked out on him and his sister when my friend was like 4. It took a while, but my friend warmed up to the guy and he’s a good guy (took my friend and I to an 49ers game once which was pretty cool).

Anyways, the PI said he wasn’t cheating. Apparently there was a house on the market that my friend’s mom wanted, and he bought it. He had been remodeling it for some time and he kept it a secret. As a 5-year anniversary gift to her, he bought it. Anyways, they live in a five-bed house now.

#4
Woman’s Dad Leaves Family And Dies In Jail
My mother’s dad walked out on mom, my aunt, and my grandmother when mom was just 5. A few years later, my grandmother died of a grand mal seizure. Mom was taken in by her grandparents, but she always wondered why her dad left and what became of him. In her 40’s, she saved up a bit and hired a PI to track him down. Turns out he moved over time from Pittsburg to California where he wound up in prison for armed robbery and so e other violent crimes. He died in San Quentin penitentiary.

I think mom got a lot of closure out of that. She was able to see that life would have most likely been even worse had he stayed. At least living with her grandparents, she was loved and raised to fulfill her potential.

#5
Detective Took Pictures Of The Suspect’s Brother Instead Of Himself
I have a story about private investigators doing a hilariously s**t job.

So, years ago, my brother injured his back at work because of his employer’s unsafe work practices. During the ensuing suit, my brother’s lawyer was given a folder full of documents from the employer’s team. Turns out, they had hired a PI to investigate my brother to prove that his injury was faked. Well, unfortunately, the PI had been taking pictures of ME, operating an ATV mounted leaf hopper. My brother walked into the court hearing and watched the color drain from the opposing lawyers’ faces when he introduced himself, looking nothing like me.

#6
BF Wrongly Accused His Fiancee Of Cheating
I was the recipient of a PI. I came home from work one day and my bf asked to have my engagement ring as he wanted to take it to be professionally cleaned. The second he handed it over he accused me of cheating on him. The conversation went back and forth for ages. I was beside myself, I couldn’t believe what he was saying and he would not believe I was innocent.
He then told me he’d had me followed for six weeks by a PI who had seen me get into a red mini. It was a girl I knew giving me a lift to work but he would not believe me. I knew then it was over and packed my things and left. I told him to get in touch with the PI and have another look at this so called evidence that I was cheating. An hour later he turns up at where I was staying begging to have me back. He’d realised his mistake. There was no way I was going to get back with someone who would behave that way though so we parted ways.

#7
Woman’s “Boyfriend” Turns Out To Be A Crook
My grandmothers first “boyfriend” after my grandfather died said he was a retired cop and a veteran. They enjoyed dancing to country music together, and bought a new car, in her name though, even though she can’t drive anymore.

My uncles hired a PI. Turns out, that old bastard had a habit of shacking up with widows and bleeding them dry. (The boyfriend not the PI).

#8
Parents Hire PI To Find Out Who’s Their Daughter’s Online BF
My parents hired a private investigator to find out who my online bf was when I was 13.

The PI came back and told us he was just a fat a*s 13 yo… lmfao

#9
Man Hires PI To Find The Guy Who Used To Bully Him At School
In his twenties, my SO hired a PI to find out what had become of the childhood bully who had made his life hell, and who had vowed to kill him. Actually, he *did* try by bringing a loaded gun to school, but some other kid ratted him out & the bully got expelled—but still lived in the neighborhood for a few more years & beat up my SO every chance he got.

The PI found the bully living in a town more than an hour outside the big city, in a dead-end job. He’d been arrested for assault and public drunkenness a couple times.

That info helped my SO get past his fear that the guy would find him some day & make good on his threat.

#10
The Woman’s Newfound Sibling Was Actually Herself
My sister (mid 30s) is adopted and hired one to find her estranged biological father.

They came back saying that not only was he still alive and nearby, but he had a daughter. Meaning she also had a biological sibling!

Further digging from the PI uncovered that they weren’t just similar ages either, they were exactly the same age. The evidence suggested that my sister had a twin and her birth father had taken the twin and vanished.

Huge, life-changing news.

Eventually, through more incredible detective work, the PI realised that the daughter was actually just my sister. There was no other sibling and they had just been investigating my sister the whole time accidentally. Needless to say, we asked for the money back.

TL;DR: Sister hired a private investigator, private investigator accidentally investigated sister.

Read an additional 20 stories about unexpected things people discovered when they hired a private investigator at BoredPanda.com.