About Us

Ace investigator Martin Yant was a reporter and editor in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Miami and Ohio before he became a private investigator. When Presumed Guilty, Mr. Yant's much-praised book on wrongful convictions, was published in 1991, he left a job as an editor and columnist at The Columbus Dispatch to pursue independent journalism and private investigation. Since then, Mr. Yant has conducted high-profile pre-trial and post-conviction investigations across the country. Mr. Yant has also conducted many civil investigations, one of which resulted in one of the largest civil-rights settlements in Ohio history.

Mr. Yant's investigations have been featured in Time magazine, The New York Times and many other publications. They have also been highlighted on 48 Hours, Dateline, Forensic Files, Unsolved Mysteries, The CBS Evening News, American Justice, CNN, the Discovery Channel, the Oxygen network and the Canadian Broadcasting System. Mr. Yant is also the author of five investigative books.

Ace Investigator Diana Rankin has an MBA and extensive executive experience in business and higher education. At Ace, she has investigated sexual-harassment and corruption allegations while working on numerous wrongful-conviction and other criminal cases. In the nationally publicized Clarence Elkins murder case, Ms. Rankin helped develop and implement a plan for collection of DNA samples from alternate suspects, one of whom was identified as the killer. This led to Elkins' exoneration and the suspect's guilty plea. Ms. Rankin specializes in conducting surveillance and enjoys catching cheaters of all kinds.