Don and Ed will serve as lead investigators and together have over 47 years of law enforcement experience. We have 2 additional retired state and federal law enforcement officers as part-time employees as well. Their combined work experience is well over 55 years.

During the 27 years of Don Bender’s law enforcement career, he gained extensive experience and training in criminal and civil litigation, investigative techniques, public relations, interrogation methods, and interviewing procedures. Since his retirement in 1998 he worked as a private investigator in the states of Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. He has successfully proven fraud in several workers’ compensation insurance cases. He has worked child custody cases, conducted criminal and civil interviews and has worked all types of video surveillance situations. He has excellent interview and surveillance skills. 

Ed Assman served 18 years with the South Dakota Highway Patrol. While with the Patrol he developed special criminal identification and apprehension methods resulting in over 400 drug related arrests. He was awarded the departments first Meritorious Service Award and instructed his techniques at the Police Training Academy. He conducted over 100 in-depth pre-employment background investigations. For three years Ed worked as an Investigator for the South Dakota Crime Victims Program.

With 20 years of experience as a software developer, Vickie Bender, Don's wife, provides Internet, computer, and electronic expertise. She is currently working as the Associate Director of Information Services at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. In this capacity she directs a team of programmers in the development and maintenance of an Internet database software program created at SDSM&T.