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Investigators Catch Cheating Hearts On Valentine's Day

MIAMI (CBS4) - It's not quite "To Catch a Predator," but if you want to catch a cheating spouse, it turns out Valentine's Day is the best day of the year to do it.

Private investigators say it's the busiest time of the year as they flood the streets working surveillance cases for distraught wives and husbands.

"We call it "cheaters week" because all the spouses gear up and they want to catch their cheating spouses," said Mitch Abreu, president of All Star Investigations in Miami. "It's the biggest week for infidelity investigations. I mean the odds are high that if the spouse is cheating we're gonna catch them."

On Valentine's Day, Abreu said his company had at least 25 to 30 investigators working infidelity cases across South Florida.

"I think that everybody needs that evidence to get the facts and move forward with their life," Abreu said. "If they don't know, they're in a state of limbo; and it's just worse cause the stress is just worse."

CBS4 News reporter Tiffani Helberg tagged along with Abreu as he staked out a man suspected of cheating on his fiancée.

The couple was caught on camera arm in arm getting into a car and driving to a local seedy motel. It's the evidence Abreu's client has been waiting for, but not the best news to deliver on Valentine's Day.

"For us bad news is good news," said Abreu. "If we can deliver bad news, hey, that's the fact that's what was going on and we're proud to say we got the evidence that you need this is the fact this is the truth."

Investigators at All Star Investigations said they have a 70 percent success rate. They also said most of their infidelity case clients are women.

The cost can be very high. It can range anywhere from $45 to $95 an hour and most investigations last from one to three weeks.

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