I have learned, through experience, that having a database (Lexis Nexis etc.) and knowing how to use it are two different things. Recently, I had a law office call me for assistance in locating a person. They have an account with Accurint but could not find the subject. I found the subject, using Accurint.

Database use requires creativity to get the best possible results. Using different data sources that offer you the same info, (i.e. credit headers) you can get different results. The mistake a lot of investigators make is using only one database or if using more that one, running the search the same way on each. Insanity has been defined as repeating the same action and expecting different results.

Remember, their coverage may be different. This is really true with liens, corporate information, real estate data and UCCs. They also update their records at different times. Your source 1 may have updated last month and your source 2 may have updated last night. Their search algorithms work differently.

Beware of the “nationwide” searches of any kind. Nationwide usually means all the data that is available, not that data is from every possible repository. I have also seen quite a few places offering criminal records and when I look at the coverage and source of the data much of it comes from Department of Corrections databases. While a nice tool to look for incarceration, it is not a criminal record repository.

Always be prepared to quote your client on the high end, to allow you to use several data sources and run the search in several ways at each.

You need to begin with ALL of the information your client has, even little irrelevant things can be important. Many times I have searched for people, or information, and have had no luck and gone back to the client and he has had the SSN or some other tidbit tucked away in the file. Do not assume they will give you everything. ASK for it. Lawyers are trained to litigate, we are trained to investigate.

I was asked to help another investigator locate a person. After searching everywhere for an address, I came up with the same old stuff. We just could not find the guy, to serve papers. I was doing name and address searches. We found many addresses but he was not at any. Many were corporate and no one would cooperate. He was avoiding service. I finally ran a “profile” and got UCCs. One of them was an address that showed nowhere else. When the investigator knocked on the door, guess who answered… “Mr. Uncooperative witness”.

In looking for a female named Crystal ______________ I kept coming up empty. Until I ran the LAST name only and found:

KRYSTAL _____________ in the list of all people with the same last name. Different spelling.

In a recent adoption search, I got the case after another PI hit a stone wall. All he had was a married name from long ago and a DOB. He told the client the “system” would not let him run a first name and DOB search. Mine does.

I ran the first name and DOB and got page after page of hits. I went back to the client. She had:

Middle name

Knew the gal had been born in CA.

Knew her mom had lived in Florida.

Having those three things in front of me, I scrolled the list and found one with:

Same middle name

SSN issued in CA

Florida address

This list gave me the SSN (I used a source that does not truncate). I then clicked on the SSN (this would have worked even if it was truncated) and got a series of AKAs (three marriages) and the 4th name… her maiden name at the time we knew her to be in NH.

My client used a local investigator that did work for her Attorney husband and the investigator said this could not be done. It took me about an hour, maybe a bit more. This investigator is a competent individual. He is not a member of our State Association, The New Hampshire League of Investigators, Inc. If he was, he would have been exposed to this in our seminars, on our listserve and in our publication and would have known how to do it and what sources to use. He also would have seen the ad for my Skip Tracing 101 CD ROM. There are hidden benefits to Association membership.

In running a name search long ago, I ran into a “high risk” address. It turned out to be the NH State Prison inmates PO Box, so the address gave me the fact he was a convicted felon.

In running a guy through PACER, I found out he was arrested for stealing mail while employed by the post office… EMPLOYMENT from a court check.

Spend time perusing the offerings of your databases. Do they support soundex (the names sounds like…) searches, nick names, first name only, with DOB. What is their COVERAGE? We spend (or at least I used to) too much time looking at the cost.