Private Investigation & Forensic Consulting — U.S. & Canada
IRIS is a team of retired detectives, forensic experts, and analysts — more than 300 combined years of investigative experience — serving families, attorneys, and agencies across the United States and Canada.
Our team’s casework has been featured by
Who We Work For
When the calls stopped coming and the case went quiet, that doesn't have to be the end. We review unresolved homicides, missing persons cases, and suspicious deaths with the same rigor we brought to the badge.
Investigation and expert analysis built to survive cross-examination — from court-recognized experts with agency careers behind them.
Force-multiplying investigative support from a team that's been on your side of the case file — quietly, and on your terms.
What We Do
Most investigations fail for one reason: a single perspective. Every IRIS case can draw on all of ours.
A fresh, forensic review of the case everyone else set down.
Learn moreInvestigation, search strategy, and tracking for the people still unaccounted for.
Learn moreThe science that resolved a 30-year-old murder, applied to your case.
Learn moreVideo, audio, and photographic evidence documented, restored, and analyzed.
Learn moreOffender and behavioral analysis from an investigative criminologist.
Learn moreSpatial analysis that narrows the search — using a model our own analyst developed.
Learn moreIndependent review led by retired homicide detectives.
Learn moreCourt-recognized tracking expertise and large-scale search command.
Learn moreInvestigation and expert testimony for attorneys, built for scrutiny.
Learn moreThe Difference
The Record
The cases below were led or supported by IRIS team members during their law-enforcement careers — the same experience we bring to every private case.
Solved after three decades
Our founder led the cold case investigation that identified Sarah's killer through forensic genetic genealogy. Convicted, 2023.
ABC News — opens in a new tabFeatured on Dateline NBC
Investigation and forensic tracking examination in the 2006 murder of Nicole Pietz. Her husband was convicted in 2013.
ABC News — opens in a new tabRemains recovered
Weeks overseeing the search of the Knotek property — recovering human remains and the forensic evidence that linked them.
The Seattle Times — opens in a new tabOne of America's largest serial murder investigations
Oversaw the evidence search at Ridgway's residence and coordinated searches for victims' remains for years afterward.
CNN — opens in a new tabFounder & Principal Investigator
Kathy Decker spent 34 years with the King County Sheriff's Office — most of them in Major Crimes, where she was twice named Detective of the Year. She led the searches on the Green River case, took the Sarah Yarborough murder from cold to convicted, and commanded some of the largest evidence searches in Washington state history.
When she retired in 2020, the unresolved cases didn't retire with her. She founded IRIS to give families, attorneys, and agencies access to the kind of investigative team that used to exist only inside a major crimes unit.
The Team
Law enforcement, forensic science, academia, and the private sector — assembled so no case ever depends on a single perspective.
Retired Homicide Detective · Professional Tracker · SAR Commander
Full background
Chief Operations Officer · Administrative Director
Full background
Administrative Assistant · Case Manager
Retired Homicide Detective · Licensed Private Investigator
Behavioral Consultant · Investigative Criminologist
Forensic DNA & Genetic Genealogy Expert
Full background
Case Analyst
Investigative Consultant
Geographic Profiler · Forensic Intelligence Analyst
Full background
Digital Media Specialist
Full background“What is not looked for will not be found.”
We exist for the cases no one else is still looking at — and for the people who refuse to stop asking. IRIS supports families of victims and law-enforcement professionals in the pursuit of answers.
How It Works
Call or send a secure note. It's read by an investigator, not a call center.
Our specialists assess what's genuinely possible. If we don't believe we can help, we'll say so.
A scoped, documented investigation — defensible methods, clear reporting, and communication you can count on.
Questions
With them, whenever possible. Our team spent their careers inside agencies, consults for prosecutors and sheriffs' offices today, and understands how to support an official investigation without compromising it.
Unresolved homicides, missing persons, suspicious deaths, cold cases, litigation support, and complex evidentiary matters — the cases that need more than surveillance and a records check.
Every case is scoped individually after a confidential review — we'll tell you honestly what an investigation would take before you commit to anything. We're not the least expensive option; the depth of this team is why families and attorneys hire us.
Yes. Discretion is a professional obligation we carried for decades before it was a marketing word. Your inquiry is not shared, sold, or discussed.
We take cases throughout the United States and Canada. IRIS is based in Idaho, but this team travels to the case — our founder has run searches nationally and internationally, and members of the bench are based across the U.S. and in Canada. Tell us where the matter sits and we'll tell you plainly whether we're the right fit.
An investigator reviews your note and responds — typically within one business day.
Confidential Case Review
Your inquiry is confidential and carries no obligation. We take on complex cases that need more than a records search.
