The investigators-for-hire were looking for a missing child involved in a civil custody case. They say Shaffer Elementary School principal Gina Rivas was eager to help and never asked for identification.

"We told them right up front we were private investigators," said private eye John Sampson. "We never said we were police."

A custom-made badge on his belt and his CSI hat seemed to satisfy the principal, said Sampson, who owns CSI Consulting and Investigations.

Over the next few hours, Rivas would volunteer the name of a student she felt resembled the one on Sampson's missing child flyer, provide information about the girl and her family, and interview the girl about the custody case, said Sampson.

The student, 8-year-old Lily Findley, had no connection to the missing child case. Sampson said the school did not call sheriff's deputies or the girl's parents until he insisted law enforcement get involved in the discussion.

James and Jennifer Findley said, by the time they were summoned to the school to prove they were Lilly's parents, the girl had been interrogated by Rivas and led within eyesight of the private investigators.

"The principal showed her a picture of a little girl and told my daughter, this little girl has been kidnapped, do you know her?" said Jennifer Findley. "Then she proceeded to hold pictures of the little girl up to my daughter's face and compare them."

The Findleys noted that, unlike their daughter, the girl on the missing child poster is biracial, has green eyes and a silver tooth.

"It makes me so angry," said James Findley. "To take her out and to subject her to that, I think, is unacceptable... The school never called us."

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesman Deputy Jim Shires said authorities were first notified of the situation at the school by the private investigators. Deputies called the Findleys, he said.

"We were told by school staff that they thought these gentlemen, these private investigators were police," said Shires. "We do not believe any police impersonation took place."

Shires said an open inquiry by sheriff's deputies will "ensure that proper steps are taken to ensure the safety of children... ensure that the children are properly identified, that the parents are properly notified in a timely manner."

Jeffco Public Schools officials have started their own investigation.

Community Superintendent Holly Anderson, who oversees Shaffer Elementary, would not comment on the actions of school employees until the district's investigation was complete.

"We don't have all the facts in front of us at this point," said Anderson.

Anderson said district policy required school employees to ask for badges and identification when someone claims to be a law enforcement officer.

As for the private investigators' claims that no such verification occurred, Anderson declined to comment.

Anderson offered a general defense of the principal's actions.

"Mrs. Rivas acted in the best interest of protecting the child, and identifying the child and cooperating with law enforcement, to her knowledge," said Anderson.

"She would have handed our daughter over to them," said Jennifer Findley. "Because she believed they were law enforcement, even though she never called police, she never verified with anyone who they were."

Shaffer was not the first Jeffco elementary school visited by the private investigators.

Sampson said they stopped at four schools recently, including a visit to Bradford Elementary that resulted in a meeting with sheriff's deputies and school district security.

Shires said he was not aware that authorities were informed the private investigators would be visiting additional schools.

Anderson said she was not aware of the run-in at Bradford until after the incident at Shaffer.

The Findleys said the sequence shows a lack of communication and ignorance of school policies.

Most of their ire was directed at the Schaffer principal, Rivas, who is in her first year as a building principal.

"She has no business protecting those children or being in the position of authority," said James Findley. "It makes you very angry, very disappointed why someone in that position of a principal is not trained or not knowledgeable or doesn't know what procedures to follow."

Jeffco school leaders declined to make Rivas available for an interview.

Both Denver Public Schools and Cherry Creek Schools said district policies mandate that schools call district security offices to verify the credentials of unknown law enforcement officers.

9NEWS is not providing certain details on the child custody investigation at the request of the parties involved.

9Wants to Know investigative reporter Kyle Clark can be contacted about this story, or any other, at kyle.clark@9news.com