I am a disappearance expert whose expertise is getting people from A to B and teaching them how to live as a disappeared person. I am Frank M. Ahearn, author of the New York Times bestseller How to Disappear.
People contact me when something in their life has shifted and they need to go. Going is different for different people. For some, it is getting away from a predator. For others, it is getting out of Dodge to avoid a violent situation because something went wrong. Other clients simply want to live in peace, make sure the world they knew does not catch up with them, or, as I like to say, prevent the unwanted knock.
Don’t go thinking only criminals need to disappear. Nor should you fill your head with the idea that a new identity is the golden ticket to disappearing. It is not. An identity is a small item in the much larger spectrum of being a disappeared person.
An everyday person can wake up one morning, find themselves in the hunt, and realize they need to learn how to disappear online and in the real world. With some luck, they find me and do not end up reading message boards full of content posted by idiots.
I look at disappearing in three stages: pre, go, and living.
Pre
Pre-disappearing is taking care of the things in your life you are going to leave behind. What will you do with your home, contents, clothing, furniture, car, and the other pieces of your old life? How will you deal with those things discreetly so people do not suddenly realize you are vanishing?
Most importantly, you need to decide where you are going, how you will earn money, and how you will get there. Can you acclimate? Can you live there legally? Can you afford it? What are the negatives for you?
Go
Go is the day you leave.
How do you get from A to B without attracting attention and with the fewest footprints? How do you leave without turning your departure into an event?
Living
Living is what comes next.
What does living as a disappeared person mean to you? How do you rebuild? How do you earn? How do you meet people without rebuilding the same life you just left behind? How do you stay safe without becoming paranoid about every person you meet?
This is the part people rarely think about.
Leaving is one thing. Staying gone is another.
Frank M. Ahearn
Frank M. Ahearn is a privacy expert, disappearance expert, former skip tracer, and New York Times bestselling author of How to Disappear. He began skip tracing in 1984, finding people through information, social engineering, and human behavior. He eventually reverse-engineered what he knew about finding people and began using that knowledge to help people protect their privacy and disappear.
Frank has lived in different countries, worked with clients around the world, and spent decades learning one basic truth: people are usually found because of information and behavior.
If you are planning a disappearance or need extreme privacy help, contact Frank M. Ahearn.
How to Disappear Books
How to Disappear Journal
How to Disappear: A Pocket Guide to Thinking, Planning, Staying Gone