Dakota North is the daughter of ex-CIA agent Samuel James "S.J." North and his wife Caroline. Dakota North and her newborn brother Ricky were raised by their father after their mother died in an apparently accidental car explosion; however, SJ frequently hired others to watch the children when his agency work called him away. After a successful child modeling stint, during which she appeared on several magazine covers, Dakota decided at a young age to become a private detective. SJ disapproved, wanting her to pursue a safer career, but the headstrong Dakota chose her own path, causing ongoing discord between them. After serving a three-year apprenticeship with Holt Investigations and its successor, she opened her own agency specializing in high-paying fashion industry cases, using her model connections to her advantage. She funneled an early finder's fee into the company and soon owned small branches in New York, Rome, Tokyo and Paris. Though Dakota owned the agencies, Robert "Mad Dog" Morales ran the New York branch (headquartered in a lower Manhattan townhouse). Yvon Berse ran the Paris branch, and other unidentified executives looked after the rest.