Founded by Ronald Rugen, LPI, Rugen Team Investigations, LLC, is the Mid-Missouri's licensed investigator more local attorneys choose.  Mr. Rugen attends conferences each year throughout the country to not only keep up with new techniques, but also networks with other investigators across the country who can supplement RTI's services.  While Missouri does not currently license investigators statewide, several Missouri cities do.  Mr. Rugen is licensed and bonded as a private investigator in Columbia, Missouri. Mr. Rugen brings his experience as a radio news director and news reporter, as well as videographic skills from his work and education in television to assist his clients in fact gathering.  However, his commitment is to only acquire information that is admissible in court and is legal.  If any other private investigator will consent to conducting illegal activity in your investigation, he or she risks getting themselves and the client into trouble. While RTI has its areas of specialization, we also handle general investigations.  If there is an area we cannot assist you in, we will find someone who can. There are other private investigators in the area that are cheaper, but they know what they are worth.  With RTI's full time commitment and working with more local attorneys than any other private investigator, you can feel confident you have the best private investigative services available to you. Call Rugen Team Investigations, LLC, at 1-800-643-6674 today! FROM THE NEWS FILES On Wednesday evening, November 1, 2006, when an investigator for ABC News wanted some background on an arson suspect (a Missouri native) in the California wildfires, Ron Rugen was contacted.  Within minutes, Ron had done the background work needed and was told, thanks "...the story is on 6:30pm New York time, ABC.  You're forever our PI contact for Missouri." Columbia Business Times, November 6, 2006. Click here. Below is Reprinted from the Mid-Missouri Business Journal, October 7-20, 2002 Rugen finds niche in investigations by Steve Ahern, Freelance Writer Are you expecting a delivery? Is there a burly, mustached man outside your front door holding a clipboard, flowers or a pizza box? If you've been dodging your creditors or owe your ex-wife money, it may be Ron Rugen P.I., ready to serve you with papers. Rugen, the owner of Heartland Judgment Recovery & Investigations, has these and other tricks up his sleeve to pry open the doors of those particularly hard cases. "I keep a pizza box in my car," Rugen said. "Sometimes, I bring a bouquet of flowers. But I always have the papers ready to serve when they open the door." Finding the debt dodger is simpler than getting the door to open. There are national databases available to licensed investigators to assist in people searches. "If I'm looking for a person who's been avoiding a debt payment, and they haven't updated their addresses, I can punch in a Social Security number or a name into the database. Their new address might come up because maybe they recently applied for a cell phone. If not, I start locating relatives and known associates for information on a person." And the search begins. Rugen didn't grow up imagining himself as the next Mannix, Cannon, or Jim Rockford. He grew up on a farm 20 miles east of Sedalia and dreamed of becoming a newscaster. When he completed his bachelor's degree in broadcast and film in 1982, Rugen took a position at KLIK/Y107 in Jefferson City as an assistant news director. There, he anchored newscasts and worked as a reporter. Two years later, Rugen was ready to direct his own news department. When a job opened up at KRMS/KY94, he took it. After 14 months there, Rugen shifted gears and took a job within the Department of Social Services in public information. Later, he moved to the Division of Aging, where he did media relations work and designed and wrote brochures, newsletters, and regulations. Rugen's first taste of private investigating work came at the Division of Aging, where he was asked to monitor in-home nursing providers to ensure they were in compliance with state regulations. On one such investigation, Rugen discovered after an indepth audit that several in-home nursing providers were not training their employees properly. "It was at this point that I became interested in this kind of work," Rugen said. In 1994, a friend introduced him to the paper-serving aspect of P.I. work. After serving papers for a few months, Rugen saw he had a knack for such work and became serious about entering the field. "I began to educate myself," Rugen said. "I bought training materials, and I paid a lawyer to go over the law with me. I went to the library and copied all of the laws relevant to the profession. He continued working as a P.I. as his schedule as a full-time postal employee would permit. In 1997, he took a break from his budding career as an investigator to start a new family, but returned to P.I. work in 2000. Last year, he opened Heartland Judgment Recovery & Investigations and eventually left his position at the post office (two months ago) when he realized he had enough business to do P.I. work full time. His reputation has grown steadily. "He's excellent at what he does," said Nancy Galloway of Callahan and Galloway Management, who has used Rugen to collect on past due rent and serve legal process papers. "It takes a certain breed of person to do this work. You need to be aggressive and assertive and tenacious," Galloway said. "He knows how to dig and get to the root of the papers to get the monies collected. If we've got a judgment and are looking to collect, he is a great next step." Leslie Schneider of the law firm Harper, Evans, Schneider & Netemeyer, agrees. Schneider says that in the year Rugen has worked for her, he developed a reputation for hard work and dedication. "He gets the job done. In his business people come and go a lot. But Ron seems really dedicated," Schneider said. Rugen is eager to dispel the stereotypes of the gun-slinging P.I. and uncover the mystery that surrounds his profession. Rather than the gun-carrying detectives you see on television, P.I. work entails a lot of computer searches and phone calls. "We are researchers of facts, like reporters," Rugen said. "Instead of a gun, a smart P.I. arms himself with a computer and a nondescript sedan with no bumper stickers." For the first time in years, Rugen enjoys his work. "I love what I'm doing. I haven't enjoyed a job this much since I was in radio doing news," he said. "I am a big crossword fan, and every day on the job is like a puzzle. I get paid to put the pieces together."