Lone Pine Investigations

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Investigators' Bios

 

 

Clyde Black

 

Clyde Black was born in Houston, Texas.  He is the oldest of 5 siblings. As a youngster, Clyde

grew up learning about horses and cattle from his father who was an experienced horseman and cattleman. After high school, Clyde went to Junior Collecge and then during the Viet Nam era, he enlisted with the United States Marine Corp.  Clyde did three tours of duty as a Marine in Viet Nam and received an honorable discharge. 

 

Upon his return, Clyde attended the University of Houston and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice.  After his graduation, Clyde joined the Houston Police Department where he was named "Rookie of the Year". Clyde spent 10 years with the HPD.

 

Later Clyde went into the Corporate Security field and held Regional Corporate Security Director positions with Domino's Pizza and Papa John's International.  These two position were over the span of twenty years. 

 

Clyde and Claire moved to Houston County, Texas in 2002 and Clyde worked as a Deputy Sheriff for the Houston County Sheriff's Office as their Narcotics Officer assigned with the Dogwood Narcotics Task Force.  The Task Force encompassed Houston, Anderson and Cherokee Counties in East Texas.  It was under the supervision of the Texas Department of Public Safety.  When the Task Force was dissolved, Clyde started his own investigations company, Lone Pine Investigations.

 

Always being a public minded person, Clyde ran for the position of Justice of the Peace of Precinct 1 in Houston County in 2006.  Clyde won the election and has been serving as the JP for Precinct 1 since 2007. Clyde retains his owner/manager title of Lone Pine Investigations, but to avoid possible conflicts of interest, he is not actively involved on a daily basis except in a managerial position.

 

Tragically, Clyde recently lost his only child, Ashley Renee Black Krajca on July 30, 2009.  Ashley, her husband Justin and friends were crossing a street in Miami when Ashley was struck and killed by an automobile. 

 

Ashley and her husband Dr. Justin Krajca were living in Miami where Justin is currently fulfilling his residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital.  Ashley had enrolled at the University of Miami to pursue a second degree in Marine Biology and was selected into the South Florida Student Shark Program and had made numerous trips into the Florida Keys catching, tagging and researching sharks, her passion in life.  The weekend before her death she fulfilled a life's dream of hers by participating in the filming of The Animal Planet's new show "Wild Recon". The episode with Ashley and her friends from the South Florida Student Shark Program aired on March 9, 2010.

   
 
Claire Cooper Black
 

Claire Cooper Black was born in Fort Worth, Texas.  Along with her older brother, the Cooper family moved from Dallas to Houston with their father’s career.  That career took the family in a triangle across America from Houston, Texas to Los Angeles, California and then to Darien, Connecticut.  At the young age of nine, the family returned to Houston, Texas and remained there until both children went off to attend Baylor University, their parents alma mater.

 

After two years attending Baylor University, Claire decided to enter the work force by accepting a position with Texas National Bank of Waco.  Claire started her banking career as a Drive Through Teller with Texas National Bank.  Claire got the banking bug and this was the start of a long career in the banking industry.

 

Claire then moved to Dallas and was employed with several financial institutions in Dallas from 1976 until 2002.  During the Savings and Loan Crisis of the late 1980’s, Claire was employed with the former Sunbelt Savings FSB.  The Resolution Trust Corporation merged Sunbelt with seven other Savings and Loan institutions in Texas during the early 1990’s.  After this merger, Claire became the Retail Lending Collections Manager taking on the collection efforts of eight failing institutions. 

 

During Claire’s eight years with Sunbelt Savings, she had been a Lender, Manager of Collections, Manager of Asset Documentation Review, Oversight Manager Due Diligence and Manager of Asset Record Control, supervising 30 employees.  Claire also assisted the Security Division, which was working in conjunction with the FBI, regarding investigations of possible fraud committed by former employees.  The institution was closed by the RTC in early spring of 1994.  Claire’s experience with Sunbelt Savings and The Resolution Trust Corporation was invaluable. 

 

Claire’s last banking position was assisting with opening Eagle National Bank of Dallas. Claire remained with Eagle National Bank as Vice President of Loan/Credit Administration from 1997 until 2002 when the bank was sold to Sterling Bank. 

 

After the sale of Eagle, Claire and her husband Clyde decided to leave the big cities behind and move to peaceful, beautiful East Texas.  After moving to Houston County, Claire acquired the position of Collections Manager for the Houston County Appraisal District which is responsible for collection of all property taxes for the school districts and cities in Houston County.  After six years with HCAD, Claire decided to go full time into the Professional and Private Investigations business which she and her husband had started in 2004. 

        

With her husband’s 30 year background in Law Enforcement and Risk Management and Claire’s 30 years in the financial industry, they have established an investigative company that has the experience and knowledge of industry standards and regulations.  Claire’s favorite aspect of investigations is the “skip trace” or locating the hard to find individuals.  Claire became proficient with “skip tracing” over her years as a banker and truly loves the pursuit.

 

Claire is a member of the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators. 

 

 

Roger H. Erwin 

 

Roger H. Erwin was born in Crockett, Texas.  After graduating from Crockett High School, Roger attended Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.  As with many men during the Viet Nam era , Roger voluntarily enlisted in the United States Marine Corp.  Roger did one and a half tours of duty with the Marines in Viet Nam. After receiving an honorable discharge, Roger came back to the United States and attended the University of California in Long Beach.
 
While attending the University of California, Roger graduated in 1976 from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Reserve Academy and then graduated from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Academy in 1979.   Roger spent the next twenty three years on the West Coast.  During this time Roger was a commissioned officer with the Downey Police Department in Downey, California; San Marino Police Department in San Marino, California; Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Los Angeles, California; Klamath County Sheriff's Department in Klamath Falls, Oregon and the Dorris Police Department in Dorris, California.
 
Roger has gained extensive experience in accident investigation and reconstruction, homicide, task force, swat team and as a detective.
 
During Roger's tenure as a police officer on the streets of Los Angeles County, he has been involved in shootings, civilian shootings and suicides involving firearms of many types and calibers.  Roger's involvement included investigations of the scenes and collection of evidence from scenes where firearms were used.  Roger presented many cases directly to the grand juries and in courts in the prosectuion of criminal activity. 
 
In February 2009, Roger was confirmed as the Chairman of the Houston County Crime Stoppers, Inc.  The Houston County Crimes Stopper's web site address is http://www.545-tips.com.