Tracking Down People to Interview

Ever wonder how writers track down people to interview for their articles or books? It’s easy if they have an e-mail address or telephone number. But what happens if they don’t have basic contact information? Do they check telephone books or call directory assistance to find that elusive person? Maybe but directories are less helpful these days because fewer people have landlines and listings in telephone books. Do they hire private investigators? Most probably don’t. So where do they turn for leads to locate their interview subject?

After searching for dozens of people to interview for my narrative nonfiction book, I developed a strategy which I’ll share in this post. But be warned: it often takes lots of time, patience and perseverance plus a tad of luck to locate your subject. At times, I wondered if some people just hid in bushes or disappeared into the wilderness!  Although frustrated at times, I gradually linked leads together to track down most of the people whom I set out to find. Here are a few resources and tips to make your search hopefully a bit easier and quicker:

First check any police reports that you’ve gathered during your article or book research for addresses and telephone numbers of prospective interviewees. (See my previous post to learn more about accessing these records:  https://www.caryunkelbach.com/accessing-law-enforcement-and-court-records/ ) Police reports often list the main police department number for employees. That means you need to call that number and ask for your subject. Although you probably won’t immediately reach that person, confirm that he/she still works for the department and if not, ask for new employment information and a phone number. These same reports may list witnesses’ names with phone numbers but often that information is blacked out.

If police reports or other public records don’t contain contact information for your subject, search the internet for the person. Look for media stories and other sites mentioning him/her. Learn as much as possible about your subject, including a middle initial, approximate age, hometown, employment and any known relatives, such as the name of a spouse. This information may become useful as you continue your hunt.

Next search LinkedIn and Facebook to see if the individual is a member. If so, you may learn useful information, including the age of your subject as well as his/her hometown, education and employment information. The person also may list a website with contact information. If not, try contacting your subject through LinkedIn’s and Facebook’s message system.

If these resources don’t help, go to www.whitepages.com. It asks for a person’s first, middle initial (if known), and last name plus a city and state or just state. Then press enter. If you are lucky, your subject’s name, address and phone number will pop up. Or, a list of names, with approximate age ranges, hometowns as well as previous hometowns, and known relatives or associates, may appear. That’s when your homework pays off. Use the background information that you’ve collected to narrow down the list of names to the best possibility. Then click on the name of your possible subject to obtain telephone and address information. Whitepages also may link you to fee-based sites for an individual’s complete background report, including phone numbers, criminal records, listing of known relatives etc. I never used these paid sites so don’t have any experiences to share.

If the above approaches fail, try using your subject’s last known address. Go online to the county assessor’s website, type in the last known address and then look for property owners adjacent to your subject’s address. Then use the whitepages’ website to locate telephone numbers for these property owners. Next call the neighbors and ask if they have a telephone number or new address for your prospective interviewee. Make sure you identify yourself and why you are trying to find their neighbor! See my blog post on Researching Local Government Records for more tips on accessing County Assessor records:  https://www.caryunkelbach.com/researching-local-government-records/

Of course, you may not need to use the suggested resources or tactics if you have interviewed someone who knows your subject or knows something about him/her. Even if they don’t have a current address or telephone number, quiz these individuals for details about your subject’s age, current and former hometowns, employment etc. Then try the whitepages’ website again. Good luck with your search!