| By Alfred Jackson
Here are step by
step instructions on how to successfully find someone.
1 - Gather as much information on the person
you wish to locate.
2 - Start a file. Almost all professionals
begin with a file in some form.
3 - Write down all of the person's identifying
information: Full name and any aliases, date of birth (DOB), previous addresses,
Social Security number, driver's license number, automobiles, license plates,
telephone numbers, places of employment and those telephone numbers, note
occupation (most states require licensing for certain professions), names
of friends and relatives, places the person likes to socialize, and anything
else you come up with.
4 - Begin with the phone book or directory
assistance. I've been paid well to dial 411.
5 - Write down all the persons with the
same surname as your subject; e.g., if you are trying to locate John Doe
in Anytowne, USA, write down all the Does, they could be relatives.
6 - Call those people.
Here's where we get into some interesting
stuff. Say you won a small claims judgment and are trying to locate your
debtor. Your debtor may very well be attempting to hide. Now, you can't
very well call up any one of those Does and say,"This stinkin' guy with
your same last name owes me money! Now tell me where the no good looser
lives!" In a scenario like this one, not only have you scared the bejesus
out of some poor Doe who may or may not be related to your debtor, but
you potentially have scared off your debtor, making him skip town. There's
a technique that professionals use. Investigative Journalists are very
familiar with it, too. It's called the "ruse", or "pretext". It's our First
Amendment right to lie. A little pretext goes along way. Let's replay the
above scenario again, but this time we use the "ruse", or "pretext": "Hi!
This may sound strange to you. But I'm trying to find John Doe . . . Oh,
my name is Whatever . . . yeah, me and John go way back. School, ball games
. . . (You have to be careful what you say here ,for obvious reasons) ,
worked together in the construction business. Haven't seen him in ages!
What's he been up to? Hey, do you have his number by any chance?
Where'd I get your number. Directory assistance. Yeah, he spoke about you
last year when we went fishing. I'd love to get a hold of him. Thanks a
lot. Now you take care." You have to be creative, but not outrageous. Assume
the person you are calling is intelligent and cautious; they could also
very well be rude. Keep this in mind, too, "You can attract more flies
with honey than you can with vinegar". Ask yourself what you would believe
if someone called you asking for the same information. Write what you are
going to say down on paper. Read it back aloud to yourself until you get
it right. Then make your call.
Be aware - there is DANGER out there!
There are laws in most states that forbid a person from representing themselves
as the following: law enforcement, any government official or employee,
and legal counsel. I would go as far as to not recommend the use of an
established business such as AT&T, Microsoft, NBC, Planet Hollywood,
Hard Copy . . . Get the idea? There may or may not be criminal ramifications,
depending where you live, but there may very well be civil ramifications.
These guys can have attorneys crawling in every crevice of your life!
What if I don't know what city the person
lives in? Or state? Have you contacted all friends and relatives that you
know? Are you sure? Are you positive you didn't overlook one possibility?
Okay, this where we start getting into the research part of the gig. Ask
yourself about your subject. What kind of person is this? Does this person
have to have a license to run a particular kind of business in a state?
Where would this persons parents live? Where might this person live?
Okay. So, what if your subject lives in
another state? Again, begin with Directory Assistance and Telephone Directories
that cover the state you wish to search. Call your local library and ask
if they have out of state telephone directories and what years. If they
do not have the directories you are looking for ask which library would
have those. You can also call most state capitals to locate their respective
state's telephone directories. Most state capitals have there respective
state's telephone directories dating back for years.
What if you have NO idea whatsoever where
your subject may be? Begin looking for the subject's relatives.
What if there are no leads for relatives?
Use your information service to conduct some simple Nationwide searches
for you. You should be able to get a listing of persons with the same name
as your subject. Note that if you're searching for a judgment debtor, in
most states you can attach higher fee's incurred from collecting the judgment
onto the principal amount of the judgment.
Search court records.
There can be a wealth of information in
civil, criminal, and bankruptcy records. If you're searching bankruptcy
files you will be able to find out if he has claimed bankruptcy, and whether
or not you can make a claim against his estate, or simply whether or not
it is worthwhile pursuing. You can also find his social security number,
DOB, spouse, other persons involved, and list of assets and liabilities
at the time of filing bankruptcy. We have also seen copies of Federal Tax
returns, divorce settlements, and abstracts from other civil cases. If
you search criminal and civil records, you may also find additional identifying
information, such as spouse, addresses, aliases, etc. Add these to your
list and follow up on them.
Search Vital Records.
Vital Records (Vitals, Vitals Statistics,
Vital Stats, etc.) are birth, death, and marriage records. Say you feel
that knowing your subject's parents would be helpful. If you can locate
his birth certificate, his parents will be listed on the certificate. Say
you feel that your debtor has vested all his assets in his wife's name,
but you don't know the spouse's name: search the marriage records. For
this reason you may also find it necessary to know your subject's spouse's
or ex-spouse name.
Search Department of Motor Vehicle Records.
Note that many states have restrictions
on DMV searching and some states forbid the general public from accessing
those records. However, you could very possibly locate an address, vehicles
registrations, or a driving record. The search criteria for DMV records
varies. Some states require full name and date of birth, others require
a social security number, and others require an arbitrary driver's license
number. You may also be able to search using your subject's license plate,
so always take plate numbers down.
Search Voter Registration Records.
These are still public in most places,
but note that a lot of people do not vote. However, if you do not find
your subject listed you may find his parents, brother or sister. Also,
you will have to call around to see which city or county would have the
records for your subject's address - voter registration, like other matters,
is jurisdictional.
Search Tax Roll Records.
See the city or county office that has
jurisdiction over your subject's address, and search for property tax bills,
personal property tax bills, and excise tax bills.
Search for Business License Records.
You may have to dig to see which agency
controls this. It may be the state, the county, or the city in which your
subject's business OR residence lies in. It may also be in one, all, or
any combination of the three. And they may all conatain different information.
Contact the appropriate Better Business
Bureau. They may be able to help.
Search real estate records.
Most states have several County Recorder's
Offices which record all real estate transactions in the given county.
Go to the county recorder's office in the county in which your subject
resides or has resided. The records will usually be indexed alphabetically,
by date, and by grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer). Search both indices.
Search by your subject's name, aliases, spouse's name, and all possible
spelling combinations of his name. Again, know that information has to
be passed through many hands before it reaches an index. Keep in mind that
it is very easy to create a typographical error in that process. So it
is paramount that when searching you have to exhaust all possibilities.
Also keep in mind that people will use their initials in their names. So
locate where this will be in the index. For example, Z. Doe might be listed
in the Z's OR he might be listed at the very beginning of the index. Look
at both.
Note:
Public information is free! However, compiling
it and making it available is costly. Keep in mind that investigators pay
well for their information databases and would probably not be able to
compete without them. They pay for the ease of access of the information
and for the time their vendors have taken to compile it and make it available.
Tip:
When Searching public records like the
ones listed to the right, you will be asked to use an index that will list
persons and businesses by name. If you are looking for a person, search
for the last name, then find the first name and ANY similar spellings of
either first or last names. This is very important, because oftentimes
typographical errors occur when the data is processed. Also, be aware that
someone's initials can be used in the index. Once you have found some possible
"hits", there will be a corresponding file number. Record the file number
and ask the clerk to retrieve the file for you, or ask how to retrieve
it if the files are self serve. |
