 In 1948, James began his career as a tracker for police and landowners, and gained much of his reputation tracking criminals (including arsonists, poachers and escapees) and lost persons.The Sundown and Pine Valley murders in 1957 and 1958 were his most publicized cases.In 1966, he found the nine-year-old Wendy Pfeiffer after she was abducted near Mylor and left for dead in the woods.