Tips & Tricks for Online Sleuthing Kim Ositis, Public Law Library of King County kim.ositis@kingcounty.gov October 10, 2014

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1 Tips & Tricks for Online Sleuthing Kim Ositis, Public Law Library of King County October 10, 2014 Starting Points Pipl.com Pipl.com searches across many different sites to provide a profile of the subject. Most of the results are from paid sites but you should be able to get some information for free. From the About page: Our search scours the top social networks, directories, public records, publications, associations, ecommerce sites and thousands of other sites. The data we collect includes contact, social, employment, education, demographic and background information. Reference USA Reference USA is a subscription database available remotely through the Seattle Public Library and King County Library System and likely other large library systems. Search for U.S. and Canadian businesses and U.S. residents. Over 25 million U.S. and Canadian businesses and over 267 million U.S. individuals. Active library card and PIN number required. Intelius.com Initial free search shows previous cities, family members, aliases and previous employers. Advancedbackgroundchecks.com Free initial searches show relationships, full addresses, phone numbers and addresses! Most will be outof-date but may provide valuable clues for eliminating false hits. Birth Dates & Addresses Sound Politics Washington State Voter Database This service provides online access to a public release of the Washington State Voter Registration Database. You can search it by address or name and find one particularly normally private piece of information; the person s complete date of birth. This is useful for elimination purposes and for confirmation that you are looking at the correct person. Plus, if you do a block search you can find neighbors and apartment and condo dwellers. The name search is statewide. Be sure to select a county first when using the address search and follow the FAQ instructions at the bottom of the page about how to format the address information. The site has not been updated since 2012 but is still a good resource for check for birth dates and relationships. A monthly Voter Registration Database CD-ROM in tab-delimited format can be requested for free from the Washington Secretary of State. Birthdatabase.com Coverage is spotty; unsure of the source of the information. 1

2 Marriages, Deaths and Property Washington Digital Archives Death Index information for Washington is available at the Washington Digital Archives. Search by first and last name but not SSN. Additionally, you can search for birth and marriage records, land records and more. Case records from Chelan, Skagit and Snohomish County Superior Courts can be searched by keyword and/or case number search for free but the full-text scans of documents require payment. King County GIS Center Parcel View Search King County real property by parcel number, address or street intersection. Includes a wealth of information, such as legal description, prior sales history and property tax information. Many properties also include pictures of the subject property taken from vantage points, such as driveways, that may not be accessible from a public location. King County Recorder s Office Search for real estate documents, survey, condominium and plat maps, liens, marriage certificates, applications, and miscellaneous documents (wills, military discharges, notices, deeds, writs, judgments). Use the Freeform keyword search box at the bottom of the search page to do a keyword search across all fields. News Searches Google News Google News uses Google s search to compile stories from over 25,000 world-wide news sources. Click on Advanced news search (small black triangle in the search box) to filter by date, news source and location, as well as standard Boolean operators. Google News Archive Search The Google News Archive is no longer available. However, you can filter News results by a custom date. From news.google.com, run a search then click on the Search Tools option below the main search box. Several links with pull-down arrows will appear. Click on the link labeled Any Time, then Custom Range and enter a date range in the pop-up screen. Google Newspapers Browse through older newspapers and do some post-1970s keyword searching for newspapers. Yougotthenews.com Yougotthenews.com provides searching of newspapers. Small Town Newspapers Browse and keyword search scanned images from over 250 small-town newspapers. 2

3 Criminal History VINELink Victim Information and Notification Everyday National Victim Notification Network VINELink is the online version of VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday), the National Victim Notification Network. This service allows crime victims to obtain timely and reliable information about criminal cases and the custody status of offenders 24 hours a day. Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public site Search by name across 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Indian Country. Advanced searching by locality and/or zip code. WA Department of Child Support Most Wanted List for Non-Payment of Child Support Includes first and last name search, browseable archive back to 1999 and picture with full name, last known address, occupation, number and age of children and identifying features, such as tattoos and known aliases. Courts RECAP (Open Source PACER) RECAP is a free extension for Firefox that improves the experience of using PACER. A free archive of previously downloaded PACER content is available for searching. A searchable archive is available at Washington State Court Records Search (docket only) Free search by name across the entire state or search by docket number or organization/business name within a particular court. Access to docket information only. Seattle Municipal Court data does not always display on the Washington Courts search so a separate search using the link below is a good idea. Pierce County Legal Information Network Exchange Search for civil, criminal and judgment court records, and find current jail inmates. Full-text court pleadings are available for purchase. Co-defendant information is also listed. Seattle Municipal Court Public information Search options include defendant name, attorney name and vehicle plate number. Results include full birth date and known aliases. New! View the full-text of documents from Seattle Municipal Court cases filed after June 23, Use Internet Explorer for best viewing results. Google Scholar Search full-text opinions from state and federal courts (including federal district courts). Coverage dates are difficult to determine conclusively but it goes back at least until the 1950s for most jurisdictions, though holdings for US Supreme Court cases go back much farther. 3

4 Businesses Secretary of State Corporation Division Corporations Division Registration Data Lookup by Name or UBI. The registration data lookup allows one to search for a corporation to determine if it is currently active in Washington. The record will indicate whether the company is a for-profit or non-profit business, the type of corporation, and show the Registered Agent information. Department of Labor & Industries Contractors, Electricians, and Plumbers Database - look up by business or owner name, city, UBI number, and contractor registration number. Vehicles Emissions Test Report Search Search by license plate or VIN number to find emission report after July 1, Report includes year, make, model, and VIN number of tested vehicle. Social Media & Relationships Facebook Go to to search by name without registering as a user. Viewable information will be limited. Registering includes providing a name and address. The new Graph Search provides a lot of searching options. LinkedIn.com Registration is required to see complete profiles. Employer information is often listed. Check your privacy settings to determine what information about you is shared when you view someone else s LinkedIn profile. Topsy.com Users of Topsy can search the social media site Twitter back to Users can research the reactions to something at the time that it happened, locate discussion of a case, find people knowledgeable about a particular subject, but also, if searching an account associated with a real person, learn what that person is interested in, the times they are online, who they talk to most, and nearly limitless other information. Researching Outside Your State Black Book Online This site is maintained by the author of The Investigator s Little Black Book. The site is particularly robust, with many good starting points, especially when researching outside of your home state. PIbuzz.com California private investigator Tamara Thompson maintains pibuzz.com. It has links to hundreds of different investigative websites, as well as useful tips and tricks. 4

5 Tips & Tricks for Online Sleuthing Public Law Library of King County October 10, 2014 Skip Tracing Checklist List all the information you know First, Middle and Last Names Maiden and Married Last Names Place of Birth Names of Ex Spouses Current and Former Addresses Nicknames or Aliases Phone Numbers High Schools and Colleges Attended Employment History Military Service Businesses Owned Personal Hobbies Addresses Known Relatives, Friends and Internet User Names and Handles Neighbors 1