Finding the Unfindable - Transient Subject Locates

The task most often assigned to investigators is tracking down subjects. The proverbial papertrail: telephone records, address histories, voter registrations, professional licenses, , civil and criminal court filings, Motor Vehicle Department records, credit card records, Social Security data..., will, in a majority of circumstances, return with the subject's current and valid contact information. But what do you do if the subject is simply not in the mainstream - for whatever reason: joblessness, homeless, mental illness, "on the run".... What then?

The success of such a search depends on several factors including the information provided to the investigator and the investigator's own skills and tenacity.

We've put together a checklist for locating transient witnesses that has generally worked:

1. Interview family and friends. (Request last known contact, any indication of location...)

2. Upon developing location leads, check with local and adjoining police departments.

3. Check with area hospitals and morgues.

4. Call the local Salvation Army center.

5. Contact the YMCA, YWCA.

6. Call privately funded charity organizations in the area.

7. Reach out to local plasma centers (many transient subjects give blood for money)

8. Identify local day worker locations.

9. Recon area bus and train stations.

and finally, you can go digital:

10. YouTube a video, or Flickr a picture of the subject, if family and or friends can provide such.

Most importantly, though, when a case first enters a law firm, as much personal information. contact and emergency contact info should be obtained as possible. Our experience has borne out that someone always knows something.

Be safe,

Lina