# Information on People
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 27, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344 "2004-09-27T20:03:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ninetypercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninetypercent)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344/1 "2004-09-27T20:03:15Z")
Someone I know has had around thirty thousand dollars worth of stuff stolen from him. The cops do not seem to be much help. He has some information that he has asked me to help him put together into something coherent.
Here’s what he has :
1. a name - he needs information on parents and if possible, neighbours.
criminal history would be a plus, as well as past employment.
2. license plate numbers - need the owner from the number.
The sites I have found that could help do not impress me. Any suggestions?
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344/2 "2004-09-27T20:28:58Z")
Well…if you find the person’s address, you can check out your county auditor’s Web site and get a list of all the folks who live on their street (if the auditor’s Web site is so fancy). But if the person lives on a street with alot of renters or in an apartment well then forget it.
I don’t think you’ll be able to match a license plate # with a person. I think only the police and DMV are privy to such info but I could be wrong…
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### Author:  [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344/3 "2004-09-27T20:37:10Z")
As for the license plate, I’m pretty sure it would only be public information if the perpetrator was from Texas. (You wouldn’t _believe_ the stuff you can find out about people from Texas.) Criminal history: I doubt it, unless you can look through Lexis-Nexis, and maybe get a hit from the local paper’s “police beat” section or the like.
But, if I were you, I’d be asking myself: do I want to get involved with this? I wouldn’t, and I look up people’s info for (part of) a living.
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### Author:  [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344/4 "2004-09-28T00:20:44Z")
If you’re really serious about this (and willing to pay), call a Private Investigator. They can find all of this stuff for you, but I doubt that they will. What are you planning to do with this information once you have it? Write a nasty letter to the editor?
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### Author:  [@AZRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZRob)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344/5 "2004-09-28T00:30:59Z")
Here’s a second for the PI suggestion.
However, he has a name, in a major crime, and the police aren’t interested? Something doesn’t sound right.
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### Author:  [@igloorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igloorex)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344/6 "2004-09-28T04:54:00Z")
I stumbled across [PeopleFinders](http://www.peoplefinders.com/) a few days ago. I typed in a little bit of info about myself and it popped up a list of every town I’ve lived in since I left home in 1987. It was actually very disturbing.
For a fee, the site claims to be able to locate all kinds of personal info on your person of interest.
I hope I am not violating any rules by linking to this site. While very creepy, it appears to be a legitimate business. I think I saw it advertised on A9, the new amazon search engine (if that bestows any legitimacy).
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/information-on-people/266344/7 "2004-09-28T07:19:14Z")
Perhaps we could better help you if you told us in what state, province, or country this person lives.