In Memoriam

November 30, 1958 - July 13, 2009

Don't grieve for me now.  I'm free.  I found peace at the close of day.  If my parting has left a void, then fill it with remembered joys.  A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss.

Wendy was an important member of the IZON Investigation's team since its formation on April 1, 2007.  She had a vibrant personality, was an excellent investigator and will be missed by all who knew her.

Louis (Lou) Smit has thirty-two (32) years of law enforcement experience from local, county and federal agencies and has a Bachelor's degree from National University. Lou is a U.S. Army veteran, having served with the 82nd Airborne Division. Following military service Lou continued working in death investigations and later worked with local law enforcement as a police officer in Southern Nevada. Lou was recruited into federal service and last worked as a Special Agent with the U. S. Customs Service, assigned to the Los Angeles Organized Crime Strike Force and later worked in Texas as a Racketeer Investigator.

After a very successful federal career, Lou returned to County law enforcement in Northern Nevada and later worked as a Medical Examiner Death Investigator in Washington State. Lou has served as a professor of Criminal Justice - Forensic Death Investigations for Del Mar College (TX) as an on-line instructor. He is an author of several death investigation training texts and scene guides. For the last eight (8) years, Lou has been with the Kitsap Co. Coroner's Office as a Deputy Coroner and National Medicolegal Coordinator. Duties in Washington State took Lou to the World Trade Center (WTC)
at government request, following the terrorist attacks upon the United States on 9/11. Lou led a team that recovered victims at the WTC and interacted with a second team at the Pentagon.

Joe McMahon served 4 years active duty with the 82nd Airborne Div. at Ft. Bragg, NC, and deployed on several overseas and domestic operations, including both combat and peace keeping missions.

Following active duty, he spent three years as a deputy sheriff in Southern Mississippi primarily in patrol but assisting and working on sweep and fugitive recovery type operations both with SWAT and a tri-county narcotics task force.

Joe McMahon’s professional career the last fifteen years has been a mixture of security and investigative experiences operating as a manager for a casino security department, conducting executive protection operations and specializing in various types of investigations, which have included domestic, workers compensation, personal injury, general liability and property loss/theft/damage cases.

Joe was also a licensed fugitive recovery investigator for three years in Nevada and operated in multiple jurisdictions throughout the Southwestern USA to locate and apprehend fugitives from justice returning them to the appropriate authority.

Steve Cwalinski began his career in Law Enforcement in 1987 with the Billings, MT police department.  He attended the Montana Law Enforcement Academy, served as a patrol officer responding to calls and was expected to complete any investigation related to the calls. At times, investigations involved major crimes requiring the use of interview skills, crime scene and evidence management, and detailed reporting. 

In 1990 he was assigned to the Billings Police Department’s first gang task force receiving advanced training in gang and hate group investigations. He participated in complex multi-state investigations on gang related crimes, which included violent crimes, drugs, prostitution, property crimes, and firearms violations. He conducted many interviews, developed confidential informants, developed intelligence files and utilized nation wide information networks. He was later promoted to the detectives division and was assigned to a special investigations unit. His duties were to continue investigating gang crimes and other criminal organizations with an emphasis on narcotics.  

A short time later, Steve was assigned to the DEA as a deputized task force agent. His duties included investigating narcotics cases to federal standards with continued emphasis on gangs. The cases were very complex & included interrogations, developing informants, conducting surveillances, utilizing electronic equipment, writing and serving search warrants, gathering intelligence information and utilizing nationwide information networks.  In 1996 Steve became an agent for the Montana Department of Justice assigned to the Narcotics Investigation Bureau continuing his assignment with Drug Enforcement Agency as well. 

In 2003, he transferred laterally to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, graduating from the LVMPD academy and was assigned to the patrol division.  In 2007 he retired from law enforcement to explore a career in the private sector. 

Over the course of a twenty-year career in law enforcement,  Steve has received  thousands of hours of training to include an advanced POST certification, training from the US military, DEA, FBI, ATF, Bureau of Justice Administration, Northwest Gang Investigators Association and others. He has conducted interviews from the very simple to the very complex and has conducted advanced investigations that took as many as five years to complete and presented those cases in federal court. He is a certified expert witness in US District court and has served as an advisor to US Congress on drug related affairs in the district of Montana. Steve was also an instructor at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy and involved in community awareness programs and public speaking.

Alice Smit is a former law enforcement officer and juvenile corrections officer with over 15 years experience. Alice has a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and is currently working on her Master’s degree. As a Police Officer and Deputy Sheriff, Alice was charged with the duties and responsibilities of patrol assignments and for investigations of local, state and federal (federal and tribal) criminal offenses to include child molestations and sexual assaults. While employed as a Juvenile Corrections Officer, she worked many of the different positions within the facility to include, intake officer, housing officer, and visitation officer. Alice has also worked in the private sector conducting investigations into death, injury, insurance claims, theft cases & criminal defense cases that range from minor crimes to death penalty cases. Alice has conducted computer research and public record research for financial, asset, court (civil/criminal) and real property information. Alice has worked in the Casino/Hotel industry as an Investigator where the primary responsibilities were to conduct investigations and follow-up on crime reports such as stolen and damaged property, employment background investigations of prospective team members and other investigations in accordance with instructions from the investigation manager or others of higher authority.