Meet Joseph Travers

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joseph Travers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joseph below.

Hi Joseph, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

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? As an ordained minister for Christ I felt my calling to assist parents locating their missing children.

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, along with a Trial Attorney, helped form Saved In America (SIA). It was decided after several meetings and operational discussions that Saved In America would focus on preventing 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, Saved In America recovered its first child.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

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. 3. We only use former Special Operators and retired/ current Police Detectives who become Licensed and Insured Private Investigators.

Saved In America currently has more than 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, Legal Director, Case Manager, Community Outreach/ Events Coordinator, Social Networking Investigator, Licensed Drone Operators and State Licensed Firearms Instructors. Since our initial operation in December 2014 Saved In America has assisted parents and law enforcement with over 275 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, 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 in the remembrance of Brittanee Drexel, who started and continues to drive Saved In America’s work. On November 1, 2018 at the 2nd annual Saved In America #ChildSavedNotSold event in Del Mar, California, Saved In America awarded its first ‘Brittanee Drexel Scholarship’ to a survivor of Child Sex Trafficking. Brittanee’s mother Dawn presented the award.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First and foremost my journey begins and ends with my Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Serving God and man fulfills my purpose here on earth. Secondly, I was blessed to be a parent and father to my son Joshua. And thirdly, I developed the necessary skills to answer my calling from college degrees in Criminal Justice and Police Science, experience as a law enforcemnt officer and certification as a licensed private investigator, and as an author of several investigation books including the 4th edition of “Investigation of Missing & Exploited Children: The Gateway to Child Sex Trafficking”, 2022

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Since December 2014 we, Saved In America, has assisted in over 275 locates and recoveries of children. However, according to studies there are approximately 100,000 American children being trafficking in the country. This is due to a gap in law enforcement who lack the time and resources to actively investigate missing and runaway children, those most vulnerable to child sex trafficking. We attempt to fill that gap and encourage others to inform and educate our local, state and federal governments of this horrible problem of modern day slavery. We have develop a national reserve program of volunteers to assist us in locating children and spreading the information and awareness across the country.

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