Meet Joseph Travers | Pastor and Founder, Certified Missing & Exploited Child Investigator (CMECI)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joseph Travers and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joseph, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
On September 21, 2009 I was reading an article from the Orange County Register, “Retired Terror Hunters Hope to End Child Sex Slavery” (in foreign countries). This brought to mind the news I heard recently regarding a missing 17-year-old girl who left her parent’s home in New York. Brittanee Drexel was last seen in a hotel video in South Carolina on April 25th. Where was she? (In August 2016 the FBI reported that Brittanee was taken from the hotel in Myrtle Beach by a gang member pimp to a stash house in North Carolina for several days then repeatedly raped by gang members, shot dead and fed to alligators.) As a former Police Detective and current Licensed Private Investigator, I have seen countless cases of missing children. The statistics are grim and disheartening. I knew many children ended up being trafficked into human slavery and felt compelled to meet the “Terror Hunters”, to see if there was a way to perform these rescues here in the United States. I immediately made arrangements to meet these former special operations ‘Terror Hunters’. Through a series of meetings, I met a former Navy SEAL who helped form Saved In America (SIA). It was decided after several meetings and operational discussions that Saved In America would focus on preventing child predator/slave traders from securing girls to traffic here in the United States. This meant targeting children before they could be trafficked. Saved in America would find the missing children, the runaways like Brittanee. In December 2014 SIA recovered its first child.
The Saved in America team model consists of three pillars; 1. We never charge parents/ guardians to find their children. 2. We do this voluntarily, refusing pay. 3. We only use former Special Operators and retired/ current Police Detectives who become Licensed and Insured Private Investigators.
Saved In America currently has over 30 operators; all licensed and insured Private Investigators consisting of former Navy SEALs, Marine Recon Raiders, British SAS, and retired Police Officers. In addition, SIA has an Executive Director, Investigations Manager, Case Manager, Law Enforcement Liaison, Parent/Child Rehabilitation Director, Social Networking Investigators, Licensed Drone Operators and State Licensed Firearms Instructors. Since our initial operation in December 2014 Saved in America has assisted over 170 successful child recoveries. The approach and techniques used by Saved in America help guide the rest of the nation on how to stop child sex trafficking before it happens, by focusing on runaway and missing children. Saved In America has taught it’s investigative techniques to the Human Smuggling & Trafficking Center, Washington, DC, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Licensed Investigator Associations in Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama, and, for the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, California.
Thank you ‘Terror Hunters’ for your inspiration, and in the remembrance of Brittanee Drexel, who started and continues to drive Saved In America’s work. At the 2nd annual Saved In America ‘#Child Saved Not Sold event in Del Mar, California, Saved In America awarded its ‘Brittanee Drexel #ChildSavedNotSold Scholarship’ to a survivor of Child Sex Trafficking. Brittanee’s mother Dawn presented the award.
The Saved In America story has been published in a book titled- “Investigation of Missing & Exploited Children: The Gateway of Child Sex Trafficking, 4th Edition 2020, available at LuLu.com.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
JOSEPH ANTHONY TRAVERS, CPI, CCDI, CMECI is a Member of the Human Trafficking Information Exchange Group, Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, Washington DC https://www.ice.gov/human-smuggling-trafficking-center and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration, and has been advanced to candidate for a Master’s of Science Degree with High Honors (4.0 GPA) from the California State University at Long Beach Graduate School of Criminal Justice Administration. Mr. Travers was also an Honor’s student (4.0 GPA) at Calvary Chapel Bible College. He is the President of the National Association for Missing & Exploited Children www.HelpRescueChildren.org

Joseph Travers is the author of “Introduction to Private Investigation, Essential Knowledge and Procedures for the Private Investigator”, Charles Thomas Publishing 1995, 2nd Edition 2005, 3rd Edition 2015 https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Private-InvestigationProceduresInvestigator/dp/0398080925/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1533003481&sr=8-2&keywords=joseph+anthony+travers (Listed in the United States Department of Justice- Office of Justice Programs), “The ORIGINAL Private Investigator’s Handbook & Almanac, CIA Investigation Academy Publishing 2010, 2nd Edition 2014, 3rd Edition 2016, 4th Edition 2022, “Investigation of Missing & Exploited Children: The Gateway to Child Sex Trafficking” 2017, 2nd Edition 2018, 3rd Edition 2019, 4th Edition 2020 http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/josephtravers1957, the “Criminal Defense Investigator’s Handbook”, 2020, the “Information Technology & Internet Investigation Handbook”, 2021, “The Courtroom Testimony & Deposition Professional Investigator Handbook”, 2022, and “Concepts & Approach for the Professional Investigator Handbook”, 2023

An Honorably Discharged Veteran of the United States Navy, Mr. Travers is a certified Law Enforcement Professional, possesing professional certificates from the California State Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission; Basic, Intermediate, Advanced Officer Training, Hostage Negotiations, and Field Training Officer Certificates. Mr. Travers has experience in Loss Prevention and Private and Personnel Security, having served as the Manager of Security, Southern California, for McDonnell Douglas Corporation.

Mr. Travers is a California State Licensed Investigator www.PeoplesDetective.com , since 1984, and his investigative work has been chronicled in People magazine twice, and on television stations such as CBS, NBC Nightly News, ABC, Fox News, San Diego 10, HBO VICE, Dove TV, Newsmax, Full Measure News, KUSI, One America News, NewsNation, The Daily Caller, and the TV movie and series Renegade. His work has also been recognized in the front-page headlines of newspapers around the country, including The Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, Riverside Press Enterprise, Los Angeles Daily News, Inland Empire Daily Bulletin, Orange County Register, OC Weekly, Veterans Magazine, San Diego Union Tribune, Risen Magazine, Canvas Rebel Magazine, and USA Today.

For ten years, Mr. Travers taught Professional Investigation, and served as Director of Education for U.S. Colleges Incorporated, the largest Private Investigation school in the country. He has testified as an expert witness and conducted investigations regarding Police Practices and Investigative Technique in California State and United States Federal Courts.

Mr. Travers is a former Police/ Fire Commissioner for the City of Oceanside, California from 2008 to 2020. He is the former Chairman and Vice President for the Professional Investigators of California (PICA), a Member of the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Crimes Against Children Investigator’s Association (NCACIA), the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation (CESE), the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), the Council of Association Leaders (COAL), and former President for the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI), the Largest Private Investigation Association in the World, receiving the President’s Award in 2014 and the Investigator of the Year Award in 2015. Joseph Travers ministries include BiblesForMarines.com, Bibles for Frogmen, Born Again The Way Motorcycle Ministry and Saved In America. As Executive Director for Saved In America www.SavedInAmerica.org Pastor Travers has assisted parents and law enforcement with the recovery of over 270 young girls vulnerable to Child Sex Traffickers since December 2014

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My best friend, my son Joshua, and I would continue to do as we have done for over 20 years. We take a Harley Davidson motorcycle trip up the coast of California on Highway 1 with our motorcycle Ministry, Born Again The Way, distributing ‘Hope for the Highway’ bibles. We camp at the beautiful state parks on the coast and beaches. We ride through Malibu to Santa Barbara then up to Morro Bay, San Simeon, and throughout Big Sur. We then continue to Monterrey and Santa Cruz. Since the founding of Saved In America we assist with and promote the awareness of current missing children in the areas we visit.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First and foremost I’d give all the credit to my Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah. I would also like to recognize my son Joshua who is a law enforcement officer in Virginia and serves as Saved In America’s Case Manager and Law Enforcement Liaison. Additionally I wish to recognize all of our 30 volunteer operators and over 100 operator reserves across the country who give so much of their time to our mission #ChildSavedNotSold

Website: https://www.SavedInAmerica.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savedinamerica/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saved-in-america-488305ab/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/savedinamerica

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savedinamerica

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@savedinamerica8472/videos

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/savedinamerica/_created/ https://www.reddit.com/user/SavedInAmerica/