Francois McKinnon: Welcome to the Miami PI Chronicles podcast. I’m your host, Francois McKinnon, from McKinnon Investigative Team. And I’m Oscar Santamaria, of Optimum Investigations.
Oscar Santamaria: We created this podcast with the goal to educate, inform, and entertain aspiring beginner and seasoned professionals in the investigative field. With over 60 years of combined experience, we offer invaluable insights and lessons learned. While we may not have all the answers, our knowledge can certainly benefit anyone interested in this dynamic profession. So sit back, listen, and enjoy these episodes. Please don’t forget to like, share, and follow. Welcome to Episode 22 of the Miami P.I. Chronicles. Oscar, how are you doing this week?
Francois McKinnon: Doing pretty good. How about yourself?
Oscar Santamaria: I’m doing great. Just came back from a last minute trip to do an investigation. Froze my butt off. It was exciting, but tired. Got some rest, and I’m looking forward to do the show. We’re supposed to have Jonathan Friedman, our criminal lawyer friend, this week, but he’s in the Keys, and he’s been busy. So we’ll get him probably next week or so. So what about you? What have you been up to?
Francois McKinnon: Same thing, different day, just working cases and stuff. But I’d be more interested in talking about what happened today. So today I started my day like I start every day. I go to Dunkin’ Donuts, and I have my coffee and my donut, something that I’ll do every single day. They even know when I pull up and they hear the beginning of it, okay, we know the rest. Just pull over. So you order the exact same thing?
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, and I go to several different ones depending on which direction I’m going. But they pretty much all know me because, like I said, I’m obsessed with the place in the morning. I have to go there. So this morning I went to one that I don’t always go to. And I drove around because I took the drive-thru. And this lady is at the window, and I’ve never seen this before. I’ve seen piercings in the ears, and I’ve seen piercings in the nose, and I’ve seen piercings in the lips. But this lady had piercings like everywhere. I mean, all over her cheeks, everywhere. It was quite, I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it. And I’m like, are we still living on Earth?
Francois McKinnon: But let me ask you, did you say something inappropriate?
Oscar Santamaria: No, no, no, no, no. I didn’t say anything, but I was just looking at her like her whole face was bedazzled.
Francois McKinnon: Well, that’s cute. It’s giving her some kind of different personality maybe.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, she looked like an alien, but whatever. She was very good at her job. She was articulate. I don’t think there was any mental illness component going there. But then we went to lunch, and then I went to another place. I went to a Wendy’s. And at this place, man, I just don’t understand it. The cashier was a guy, all tatted up, face, neck, everything, painted nails. And I was just saying to myself, you know what, I just need AI to take over this thing. Because you don’t get it. It’s time. I don’t even feel like I’m on Earth anymore sometimes.
Francois McKinnon: You know, can I tell you something that actually has been bothering me for a couple of days, right? I’m watching, and I want to get your take on this. We’re friends for over 30 years. With everything that’s happening, you know, you and I love, we’re big fans of AI. But now there’s like social media TikToks, Instagram. And I don’t believe anything anymore. And it’s scary as hell. I’m going, what is real and what isn’t? There’s like things out there with people’s face like Elon Musk that certainly has not done any of this. And his face is on it. And I find it crazy because I really don’t know. Let’s put it this way. I pay attention, as I always have. But I pay attention to make sure that what I see is real or not. And it becomes kind of scary because of the fact that I’m not sure. When I’m not sure of something, I disregard it. And what do you think about this? Because you’ve seen it as well, right? But it’s been bothering me for a couple of days, and I was looking forward to talk to you about it. Because I’m going, what’s real and what’s not real anymore?
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, you have to just use your discernment. I mean, these days, there’s a lot of people trying to fool you. And you’re just going to have to, you know, if it doesn’t add up, it’s not real. Luckily for us right now, these AI videos are emerging. And you can kind of still tell what’s real and what’s not real. But, I mean, eventually, you probably won’t. So you really got to do your research. It’s not going to be just like a given. You should always go into this, into things, expecting that they’re not real. Because everything on TikTok, you know, you see these reels and they’re cutaways of like a puppy that’s abandoned. And they find it. And the next thing you know, it’s getting older. And it’s a completely different dog. You know, these stories, and people just want clicks. And so just, you know, just don’t fall for these things. You know, just use your best judgment. And, yeah, we’re living in tricky times.
Francois McKinnon: So let me ask you something. What about your history with TikTok? Because you told me you no longer watch TikTok. And then now we know it’s going to go off, possibly go off the air next week or something like that. And you want to hear my take on this? I think that people spend way too much time on TikTok. And when we were raised and when we started our profession to be an investigator, you cannot get your mind erased or stop thinking by watching these TikTok videos. And I think that it’s a huge deal. And there’s so much of the, you know, our children’s generation that they live on this stuff. And I wanted to hear what you thought about it, because I know you used to watch a lot of TikTok and do a lot of private investigative forums. And it went back and forth. And, you know, people go crazy on this.
Oscar Santamaria: So what do you think? You know, I was on TikTok for about two weeks back, you know, in the early days of the pandemic. And I knew right away it could be very addictive. So I didn’t stay on it too much. I just, you know, I had enough with, you know, with Instagram. I have that still. I got rid of Facebook as well. But TikTok is just a whole different thing. And I think the reasons why they want to ban it here is really not so much for what it does to the children. But I think it has a lot of software that if you read the language, they can basically just take over your phone, your pictures and everything. And so it’s very scary of, you know, of the lack of privacy that individuals get when they sign on to TikTok. So I think that’s the problem with it. I just can’t do it. I had my phase the last two weeks, and I don’t need any more distractions in my life than I already have.
Francois McKinnon: Yeah, because we have a lot of work, and we have to concentrate and keep contact with our clients and stuff. So, you know, by being disturbed like that, and I brought it up because you had mentioned that to me.
Oscar Santamaria: I mean, you do still need to have these social media sites. I don’t have TikTok because really for me, I think most of the claimants that I have are usually a little bit older, and they’re beyond the TikTok generation. But if I had a claimant that was younger, I would probably maybe have my daughter look at her TikTok just to see because you obviously have to monitor these things. I do have a Facebook profile and a couple of other ones. But as far as TikTok, I don’t even want to because it’s so freaking addictive that I don’t need it.
Francois McKinnon: I have many Facebook accounts for the reason of being an investigator.
Oscar Santamaria: Well, the thing is that Facebook is dying, and TikTok is emerging, and I should have it. But unfortunately, it’s probably like telling an alcoholic to go work at a bar. It’s probably not a good idea. So I’m just going to try to stay away from it. I’m going to try to stay away from at least that one.
Francois McKinnon: Well, at least for the people that know we are on TikTok, it’s Miami API Chronicles. So give us a like or whatever the heck they do. And listen, I received an email, well, several emails, but one of them really got to me. It kind of mentioned, have you ever been on a surveillance? And the subject, your subject, you start feeling bad about them because of whatever they’re doing. And obviously, we know a lot more about the subjects that we investigate, and we know their lifestyle and stuff. And then sometimes you see them, and specifically you that works on the insurance side as an expert in surveillance. How do you feel sometimes that you’re doing your job? And does it make you feel bad?
Oscar Santamaria: I actually have one case that I remember, particularly because I did feel really bad for the guy. So it was an insurance case. And I remember I was working it and the guy had some sort of eye injury. I don’t know what happened, but he needed to wear sunglasses always because he was very sensitive to light. So I know that he was going through a divorce and he had a girlfriend and they live in an apartment. So that’s all I knew about him. I had his registered vehicles. I get there in the morning and I see his vehicle there. So I have a view of everything. It’s an apartment. I can see him coming out and getting into his car. When he got into his car and he got out of his apartment, he had two daughters. One of them was fine, a younger girl. And then there was another one, I don’t know. She was probably about eight or ten years old at the time, completely disabled. I mean, he had to carry her. I mean, she was a total vegetable. And I just really felt bad for the guy. I mean, thank goodness that it wasn’t a back injury because I probably wouldn’t have felt good for this guy, a father. Even if you’re injured and you have a child like that, I mean.
Francois McKinnon: Sure, if it’s your daughter or my daughter, we’re going to carry them through hell. You become extremely strong. So it’s kind of a, yeah.
Oscar Santamaria: So that one is one that I think of. Today, that little girl was probably 30, 35 years old. He’s probably retirement age. And sometimes I think about this guy and I’m like, wow, because he had it tough, man. I mean, having a child like that, you know, I mean, I just saw a glimpse of what his life was like. Can you just imagine every single day having to do that? I mean, even, you know, I know he was a divorced father, but, you know, I mean, just having to, when he’s with the child, having to undergo that. And it’s just something that, you know, it’s never going to stop.
Francois McKinnon: Yeah, I understand. Let me share a story with you. When my daughter was born, possibly a couple of weeks after, we were told to go to see a specialist. And I seriously, I forget what it was about, but it was kind of scary to us, right? So she goes into the exam place with Christina and I kind of stay outside, right? And then I realize that there’s a couple that’s nearby and they’re talking to a physician. And my point is this, you know, when people say, are you having a bad day? I heard this doctor tell this couple of a newborn, not sure if they were newborn, but maybe like a month old or whatever, that they believe that their child will not live much longer. And then I don’t, maybe I teared up or whatever, but then I went back to Christina and she said, well, our baby is healthy. She’s fine. And she peed on the doctor and he lifted her up or something. And the doctor said, I don’t care. I’m going skiing in Vail tomorrow. So everything even now, but you know, when people say, oh, I’m having a bad day. Imagine that young couple finding out that their child is not going to live. I mean, I actually think about this quite often because of the fact that people are, these days, people are complaining all the time. And then imagine having this, you said, oh, the apple of our eye is here. And this is going to be our new life. And then this stops.
Oscar Santamaria: I mean. Yeah. You’ve got to be grateful for what you have because, you know, so many other people have it so, so bad. And, you know, you got to say there by the grace of God go I. And we have a lot of opportunities in life. And, you know, we don’t have to deal with a lot of these things that many people have to deal with. And for that, I’m very grateful. I’m very grateful.
Francois McKinnon: I totally agree with you. You know, people have it rough. And we should be so lucky that we’re good. I wish everybody would be fine. But apparently that doesn’t work that way. I wanted to tell you something funny. While I was on my business trip, I realized that you and I had talked probably last week regarding the Google, my Google business page. And I actually you send me some information and I follow through and I ever I got a higher rating for visibility on Google search, which is very important for private investigators. So can you tell us a little bit about that?
Oscar Santamaria: You know, you don’t even have to have a website to have a Google business page. I mean, it obviously helps if you do have one. But I think everybody, if that’s not something that you have now, I would make that a priority number one, because that’s actually going to put you on the map section. Again, you don’t need a website. It’s better if you have one. But when you have one, it’s very easy to set up. You just go, you know, Google my business. And then you open up an account. You have to have a Gmail account already. And then it just gives you prompts. You know, you try to fill as much as you can as possible. And it’s not just one and done, you know, something that you got to continue to update, you know, continue to add photos, post updates to just all sorts of things. And you want to add if you have any social media sites that you use for your business, you can add those. And those add credibility to your site. It tells Google that, you know, you’re a reputable company. So as many of those links that you can put on, the better. Add your business hours, your times. That’s very helpful. If you have a local number, it’s better to use those because a local number is better than an 800 number. So that Google knows that you’re within that boundary of where you’re trying to solicit business. So it’s something that if you’re not doing it, trust me, it’s vitally important. It’s going to help you tremendously with visibility. And that’s what you want to do. You want people to find you and you not have to hunt them down.
Francois McKinnon: I mean, I totally agree. And, you know, you send me a list, a step by step of what you thought worked for you, for the investigators, you know, our PI listeners. So if they want a copy of it, they can reach us at miamipichronicles at gmail.com and request a, what would you call it, Oscar?
Oscar Santamaria: Just a free copy, a little checklist of what you can do just to make sure you optimize that thing. You want to do it at least once a month. Better if you do it once a week. Add offers. Make sure that all of your social media and everything have the same address. You have uniform address, phone numbers and everything because that matters. And, you know, you’re going to see the results. There’s an analytical chart there. It’s called performance. And just start tracking how many people visit your website, how many calls you get, how many people interact with your profile. And just keep tweaking it. It’s not going to be something that’s going to go from, you know, zero to 100 in a day. But it’s something that’s going to get you up there pretty quick, especially in your geographical location. So there’s plenty, plenty of YouTube videos that explain this as well. Just get started and do it. If you don’t have it, do it. And also, you know, while you’re there, try to go on to as many free listings as you possibly can because, again, that adds credibility to YouTube. The more things that you have out there, you know, Yellow Page, you can do there, Yelp, just all sorts of things, you know. Just Google free listings and they’ll give you a whole bunch. And just add your company to all those.
Francois McKinnon: Well, I think that’s awesome information. And, again, if people want to get a copy of Oscar’s intelligence and information, please send an email to miamipichronicles at gmail.com. And we’ll be more than happy to send you what Oscar created because, obviously, it worked for me. My phone rang the next day and I booked a couple of jobs. And that’s what PIs do. You know, they’re like lawyers. We get a job and this is what it’s all about. Then we do the job, we bill for the job, and then we go on and try to get more jobs. That’s pretty much our life. So I wanted to touch base with you regarding New York last Wednesday. But, more importantly, when you look on social media, Oscar, and you listen to everybody’s kind of theory. You know how many people in the world have been listening to this story. But you have to understand, it’s kind of crazy how the social media, because it’s called social media for something. It’s people talking to each other and expressing themselves. If there’s issues with health care or anything, it should be addressed by talking with people. I don’t think violence is really the way to go. But this story is certainly catching fire on every social media. And what are your thoughts on that?
Oscar Santamaria: Well, I’m frankly surprised. If he’s not caught by Tuesday, I would be shocked. I think that they probably already know who this person is.
Francois McKinnon: Well, Oscar, today I heard that they know exactly who he is. But they’re not releasing his name because obviously it would widen the net, you know, the investigative net. Listen, a homicide is usually a 48 hour window. If you have a homicide in Miami, obviously the police departments know how to share it with the media properly because they’ve done it. I think they were on the original show the first 48 hours. Now, people are saying maybe this guy or whoever hired him were denied a claim. And their family members ended up dying because of denying the procedure. What do you think about that?
Oscar Santamaria: Hey, listen, I don’t know. There’s a lot of speculation out there. If I were to armchair quarterback this, my guess is this guy was probably hired or angry or disgruntled an employee. You know, you always got to think about maybe, you know, the wife. It just seems like he came out of a hotel and he was only walking across the street. This guy automatically knew who he was. So, I mean, somebody must have tipped him off that he was, you know, leaving the hotel. I think he was just going directly across the street. So this guy is outside. It’s kind of early in the morning still. I mean, it still might be dark. I’m not 100% sure about the lighting conditions.
Francois McKinnon: No, it was dark. The fact is that the – go ahead. Sorry.
Oscar Santamaria: So it’s very hard to, you know, to absolutely know that the person that you’re, you know, going to kill is that guy. I mean, he was behind him the whole time. You know, I think that he was given the heads up that, listen, he’s leaving now. So I think that there’s some phones involved.
Francois McKinnon: No, you’re totally right. And that’s something that people don’t understand in social media. They don’t get what we’re talking about because we understand that. For him to go and hide behind a car and wait for him to walk by as he saw him, he was not waiting there for a bus, okay? He had a plan. And then this guy comes out. As he walks by, he pops behind a car and then does a shooting, a horrendous shooting. But as it may be, he’s somewhat of a professional or hired person to do this kind of thing because he went to New York many, many days before this tragedy happened. And then he was able to pull it off. And now they can’t find him. And the more social media is involved in this, the worse it’s going to be for the police and the FBI to figure out.
Oscar Santamaria: I don’t know. Listen, sometimes there are these internet sleuths that do help. I think in the Gabby Petito case, that was an example. You’re right. So sometimes. But then again, you get inundated with all of this influx of just information and it’s hard to sift through. But I’d be very shocked that by this time next week, by our next podcast, that this guy would have been caught. And who knows? Who knows who was responsible for this? But I don’t think this guy is getting away with it at all.
Francois McKinnon: Believe me, I agree with you and I believe in law enforcement and the right thing to do. And I think they’re going to go all out and they’re going to find him. Well, that should wrap up another show. Thank you for listening to the Miami PI Chronicles podcast. We’ll be back next week. Please don’t forget to like, share and follow. For all of your investigative needs, including licensed surveillance, please contact Macon and Investigative Group or visit us online.
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