We were lucky to catch up with Joshua Travers recently and have shared our conversation below.

Joshua, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?

As a college and high school wrestling coach, I learned that “how” I presented information was as important as “what” I presented. I learned this while starting the Liberty University Women’s Wrestling team. Coaching female athletes was different then coaching the male athletes. I was very blessed to have an established wrestler, Cendall Manley (Murphy), on the team, but had several women that had never even touched a wrestling mat. I had to transition from an “older brother barking orders” style of coaching used with the men, to an almost “fatherly, teaching” approach. I took this lesson to heart and ended up having Cendall as a National champ, eventually being a 4x champ, and bringing another female athlete, Catherine Morales, to nationals where we placed 8th as team with 2 athletes. I realized that establishing a bond with an athlete, on their level, while maintaining the respect of a coach was the key to building trust. I ended up using this when I transitioned to high school coaching and even in my day job as a cop. Establishing a level of respect for the position I am in, but making sure the relationship bond, no matter how quick, is built on their level.

Joshua, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Joshua Travers served in the United States Marine Corps from 2007-2015 serving in Iraq in 2009. He has been a licensed Private Investigator since 2004 and is currently the Case Manager for Saved In America as well as serving on the board for the National Association for Missing and Exploited Children. Joshua has spoken all over the country on the matter of Child Exploitation and Sex Trafficking and was appointed, along with his father, to the Human Trafficking Information Exchange Committee organized by the Office of Human Trafficking and Smuggling in Washington, DC. Joshua is an All-American Wrestler for Liberty University, and currently serves as Assistant Wrestling Coach with the Covenant School in Charlottesville, VA. He previously served as a volunteer coach with Liberty University Men’s team, and helped establish the Liberty University Women’s wresting team.
He, along with his father Joseph, is the author of Introduction to Private Investigation, 3rd Edition, The Original Private Investigator’s Handbook and Almanac, 4th EDITION and “Investigation of Missing & Exploited Children, THE GATEWAY TO CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING”.
Joshua is a current peace officer in and currently resides in Central Virginia with his wife Kallie, and their every growing farm.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

I was on patrol at my previous agency and had just taken a call for a stolen vehicle. I finished up at the residence and began to head back to the department to get the report finished so it could go into the state system. As I drove away I remembered that our neighboring jurisdiction had recovered multiple stolen vehicles at the mall parking lot. It was only a 2 minute drive, so I headed that way. All of the sudden, my stolen vehicle barreled past me and the pursuit was on. Less than 10 minutes later, a severely damaged stolen car, a gun, and one arrest later, and the pursuit was finished. Had I not taken the extra care to check a known area, and not pivoted from investigation mode to high risk mode, the victim would not have her families vehicle back.

It reminds me of a time as law enforcement liaison with Saved In America where I took the time to google a movie and actor to find a missing child. We had a case where the sister was in contact via facetime with her missing sister. In the back was a movie with a certain actor in period attire. I was able to research that information and found the movie and screenshots that matched the scene. Meanwhile, our operators were on scene at the apartment complex, but with no apartment number. I was able to have them look for TV’s that could be seen through the blinds and there was the apartment with that movie playing. and a girl sitting on the couch matching our missing girl’s description. Local PD was contacted and we recovered the missing child and brought her home.

The extra mile and being flexible enough pivoting directions in your environment is crucial.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

As a coach, being there for my athletes, showing up to competitions, and winning.

As a law enforcement officer, making arrests, following investigations through, and empathizing with victims.

As a member of the Saved In America team, following our SOP’s, maintaining communication with local agencies, and helping to successfully recover children.

You can be the nicest, most knowledgable person in your industry, but without results, its impossible to build a good reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: savedinamerica.org
• Instagram: @deputy_mike_honcho
• Facebook: saved in america
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-travers-439ab537/
• Youtube: @savedinamerica8472