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Clint Robinson spent more than three decades in law enforcement before becoming a private investigator.
Robinson enlisted in 1988, served in the U.S. Army and the National Guard and now serves in the U.S. Army Reserve. He graduated from a Texas police academy in 1990 and later earned a master peace officer license while working for a county law enforcement agency.
Robinson said he was ambushed while responding to a call late in his law enforcement career.
"I didn't know what was waiting for me. The guy was not supposed to have a gun, and everything was supposed to be locked up, and the guy shot at me. The bullet was really close to killing me," Robinson said.
He said said starting a family prompted him to leave law enforcement. In 2017, he decided to use his background to become a private investigator.
After passing the state licensing exam, Robinson opened Corbin Clay Investigations. He has been a private investigator for three years.
While many private investigators focus on a specific field, Robinson said he handles cases including criminal defense and insurance fraud and works across Texas, including Beaumont, Houston, Dallas and Austin.
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Q1: What is the most unusual case you've taken?
A1: Let's see. I was asked to find a lady’s husband. She called me and said, 'I'm the wife, but I need to know where my husband's at and he's dead and he died three days ago.' I said,' how do you know he died?' [She said,] 'Well, I've seen it on Facebook.' And I [asked id she knew] who posted it.
[She said,] 'Yeah, my daughter posted it and they started to GoFundMe.' I said I'll try.
Basically, the husband had asked to leave the hospital, and the daughter brought him out and he died in her care and then they hid it from her. They didn't want to tell her because they were estranged. She just wanted to know where her husband is so she could bury him and have a funeral. We found him in a funeral home. We’re kind of still working on that case a little bit on the other some other aspects of it but that was to me a really weird case
Q2: Have you ever found someone who didn't want to be found?
A2: Yes. Not all the time, but it happens. I was contacted by a Middle Eastern family and their nephew had gone missing for a while, and they wanted to get him back to his family. His family was really worried because they heard he had gotten hooked on drugs. They knew he was in California somewhere. I found that guy in probably about a day's time, off of Sunset Boulevard, in a homeless encampment. I had pictures of him to send to them and he didn't even recognize anybody. They wanted me to try to help them get the guy back to Iran.
Q3: Has a case stayed with you long after it was over?
A3: Yes, there is one that still sticks with me. There was a pedophile case where a guy was molesting the two daughters in the house and the mother was taking up for him. He wasn't the biological dad; he was the stepfather. The mother was taking up for him and not believing her daughters.
The other parental party contacted me. I wasn't happy by the way the way it ended. I feel like we could have done more. There's only so much I could do.
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Q4: Have you ever talked to someone for a case and realized they were lying?
A4: I’ve never been led to believe someone is lying. If they're dishonest or they lie, the contract is null and void and they don’t get their money back. But I've been trolled before, and I say troll like they're trying to get information out of me by being nefarious and lying by asking me all these questions about me and my business.
Q5: What is the most valuable lesson you've learned from watching people who think no one is watching them?
A5: People are creatures of habit. The average person does not even look in the rearview mirror to see if anyone is following them. Some people are very paranoid but most people don't. Most people are on their phone, they're worried about everything else and they're not aware of their surroundings.
Q6: If you could erase one myth about private investigators, what would it be?
A6: That we're want to be cops. I've heard so many times that private investigators are just people who could never make it in the law enforcement world and we're illegitimate. There may be there's always a few bad apples in every profession. But for the most part, I've seen really professional people, private investigators and firms.
Q7: Have you handled infidelity cases?
A7: A lot of times. Two years ago, I was hired by female client to find out if her husband was possibly committing infidelity and cheating. The husband had moved out of the house for [about] 2 years. He said he needed time. They were Christian family and they were trying to hang on and they didn't believe in divorce. Well, she didn’t. She gives me all the details, I run all my reports, I build a case file, and I start my surveillance.
I knew where [the husband] worked, and I knew where he drove. I followed him to a house that he had started with another [woman]. He basically started another family and had another house in his name, and my client had no idea. She thought he went to stay with a friend, but he already started over with another woman.
