Missing Persons: a writer's guide to finding the lost, the abducted and the escaped

by Fay Faron

REPRINT OF ORIGINAL 1997 BOOK BY THE You've planted your gumshoe in her office over the mom-and-pop grocery, hung her crooked shingle and placed a client in the straight-back chair. All she needs now is know-how. And all you'll need to supply it is Fay Faron's Missing Persons. Founder of the Rat Dog Dick Detective Agency, Faron has been tracking the missing in real life since 1983. She knows how to go beyond the phone book when seaching for lost lovers, missing relatives, old friends and vanishing villains. She also knows what makes sleuths tick, and what detectives usually detect. Now she'll show you. With Missing Persons in hand, you'll The types that commonly become PIs--ex-cops, macho criminal wannabes, reporters* The easiest people to find (men, property owners and professionals) and the hardest (women, scoundrels and those with common names. * Profiles of the missing and profiles of those searching* How and why people hide* What can be gleaned from public record* Secret and not-so-secret databases* The lowdown on interviewing, surveillance and the benefits of a good scam. Missing Persons goes beyond the basic search, and details the process of looking for someone, typical clients and the reaction once the missing is found. There's more than a presentation of facts here. Faron backs up her clues with anecdotes from Rat Dog case files. As with any good whodunit, Faron's engaging style and true-life adventures will have you turning pages. In short, every gumshoe's search should begin here.

247 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Fay Faron first came into the national conscienceless in 1982 when she founded The Rat Dog Dick Detective Agency in San Francisco. In 1991, her advice column, “Ask Rat Dog,” was syndicated by King Features, leading to appearances on virtually every major TV talk & news show of the decade, including Oprah (3 times), Larry King Live and Good Morning America.

Faron has authored three books (“Missing Persons” & “Rip-off,” published by Writer’s Digest; and the self-published, “A Nasty Bit of Business”) and been the subject of “Hastened to their Graves,” a true crime by Edgar award-winning author, Jack Olsen.

In 2001, Faron sold her detective agency and moved to Louisiana, where she was named “Ferrygodmother of New Orleans” in 2016 for saving the local ferry system. In 2020, she was awarded Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award” for her investigative endeavors and community activism.

“Journey of an Ex-Teetotaling Virgin” is a memoir of her traveling years right out of college.