The Wisdom of Crowds

Anyone who is looking for information and need the assistance from the public can post a bounty or reward on our website. The search engines will do the magic connecting you to the ones who have the said information. Here are some common scenarios.

You are looking for someone. Professional skiptracers may have access to some databases that are only accessible to licensed private investigators. But the main tools skiptracers use are public records, information you can find without a court order. I will cover the basics on public records in the rest of this article.

You got in a car accident with someone, and the person liable fled the scene. But you do not have full coverage auto insurance. You want to find that person and make him/her pay. Bail bond enforcement agent posts a bounty for a fugitive who skipped town. Someone stole your vehicle, bike, machinery, or tool, and you want it recovered. You try to locate long lost friend, classmate, family member. relative or co-worker. Someone you do business with "evaporated". As a car dealer, one of your customers own money on the car note defaults on the loan and you need to find that person to repo your vehicle on the lien. You want to collect from someone who owes you money. There are simply too many flim-flam and fly-by-nights that will disappear into the crowd in a New York minute. With the economy in dire situation and unemployment is at all time hight, more defaults on loan payment will happen.

In the case of adoption, most states allows limited access to biological parents identification information if they have consented the access to adopted adult child. If consent is not on file, the adopted child have to petition to court and get a court order to compel adopting agency or juvenile court to release such information. Family laws of different state are different. But the principle to protect the privacy of all parties involved is the same. Adopted child can use the same skip tracing technique to locate his/her biological parents if effort of getting such information through court is not successful.

You lose you beloved pet dog, cat, goat, pig, horse, rooster and you want it back. You have checked your local SPCA and Animal Control without luck. You lose your ring, or jewelry during a concert. You lose a camera that has pictures of great sentimental value. You can not find it on the lost and found area of the venue where you lost it.

Or you want something done, and the task requires very special knowledge and skills. You can not find it in the yellow pages phone book so you post a reward. For example, you are looking for someone to identify a piece of antique. You leverage the wisdom of crowds and crowdsource the solution to your unique problem. It is a form of creative thinking.

You look for something rare and unusual, art work, painting, craft, collectible, or antique. But you have trouble finding it through conventional channels.

You can benefit from our bounty and reward system in all the above scenarios.

Skip tracing is about following the public record trail. I will know explain what public records can be used to mine useful leads and clues to find your target. Keep in mind, very few can survive in a vacuum in modern time unless your target is a caveman. You subject has to live a society that is interconnected. That is the basic principle behind skip tracing.

Skip Tracing & Organizations & Associations

Your subject may be involved in an organization, like local business chamber of commerce, alumni association. This person may go to college or is affiliated with an academic institution. This person may be part of a professional organization, trade union. Your subject may be involved in a neighborhood association. All these organizations maintain databases and directories of their members. Direct mailing and marketing companies quite often target these lists, and you can get the same list from their source and that may lead you to the whereabout of your subject.

Is your subject related to military service? Check with Veteran's Affair office, which will lead you to local clubs, and associations.

Skip Tracing & Government Registration

If your subject owns vehicle, it has to be registered and registration has be to renewed annually. You can request a driving record from your local department of motor vehicle and it will show where the vehicle was last registered. If you have the VIN of the vehicle, you can request a copy of vehicle history report from AutoCheck or Carfax. It will show the latest inspection record. From the inspection record you will see where it was last inspected. That will lead you to the location. The same may apply to watercraft, jetski, snowmobile, trailer, boats, ultralights, planes, and other type of vehicles.

If your subject loves pet, local Animal Control requires registration of dogs with rabies vaccine records and neuter or spray records. Some exotic animals need special permit for the owner to keep. That will lead you to the whereabout of your subject.

If this person owns a small business and runs it as a sole proprietorship, it is likely a fictitious name or assumed name (DBA) record is kept at local county clerk office. If other forms of business entity are used, like corporation, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) then you will find records with Secretary of State and follow the paper trail.

Some local governments and municipalities require registration of rented properties for annual code inspection. If your subject may be a landlord, that is a good place to start.

Most of the real properties have a record with county office. These ownership records are maintained by Central Appraisal District. These records are public and may be searched over the Internet.

Voter records. If you subject has voted recently, you will have the voter registration information.

Utility records. Eletricity, gas and water usage for home and business are public record. Al Gore, who won an Oscar for his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth", had his gas and eletricity utility record revealed by a journalist, which is said to be 20x US average.

Skip Tracing & Police Records

If your subject is stopped by a police and there is a citation, if your subject is involved in an accident, or if someone calls police during a domestic dispute or altercation, and a police report is filed, you will have access to those records. Some cities install red light cameras to enforce traffic laws, and if you have the license plate of your subject, there might be a record if there is traffic violation. That will clue you in the last known location of your subject.

Even if no charge is filed, these police records are still open to public and provide a lot of clues. The exception to this is if the information is part of an ongoing investigation then the government may deny the access for fear of interference.

Skip Tracing & Court System

Court is also known as "public forum". Anything goes on in the court will be public with rare exceptions involving national security matter. That is one of the reasons that a lot of disputes never go to court but instead are settled outside of the court. Once your subject is involved in a litigation, all private matters will be subject to subpoena if the court believe that information will be used as evidence. Your subject's financial records will also be made public if it is subpoenaed.

If your subject is a party of an IRS tax court case, his financial records will be made open. That means bank accounts, assets, owned properties and much more useful information which would otherwise be kept private will be available to you.

Is your subject is involved in a family court or probate court case? Divorce? Child support? Inheritance? You subject may have inherited a lot of money and diseased relative or parent's estate will be the subject of probate court if estate planning was not setup properly.

Immigration court. Is your subject an immigrant? By law, immigrant has to register with Department of Homeland Security every time the person moves. That will give you the information of last known address. Is your subject in an immigration court proceeding? A lot of information will surface in that proceeding.

Criminal and civil court. If your subject is accused of a crime, traffic infraction or DUI/DWI, there will be public records. If your subject is thrown in prison, there will be public record for that as well. If this person is out on parole, or if that person is registered due to sex crime, there will be public record. Talk to the probation officer and you will find your subject's whereabout. If your subject is involved in a civil law suit, there will be public court case, and all the subpoenaed evidence and records will be accessible.

Various State Public Record Access

Public record online access can be found on different state department website. Most states do criminal history back ground check either by local department of public safety, state police, or by local court. Some states provides more comprehensive public record access in one place, like police citations and reports, court cases, convictions, non-convictions, sex offender registry, probation and parole, inmate records from department of correction, traffic offenses and driving records. For other states, there might not be online access at all or you may have to make a few phone calls to get the right direction.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii

Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts

Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico

New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota

Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Skip Tracing & Professional Permit, Licensing & Certificate

If your target is a licensed processional, and the person is likely to continue to sustain himself through the same line of work, the chance of getting your target is improved substantially. Each state has its own licensing, insurance, and bond requirement for each profession that is regulated and licensed by state. The state maintains a database of all licensees. The information in this database is public. To start the search, visit USA.gov. From there you will have access to state/county/city/tribal level government pages. Freedom of information act will entitle you to the information that is not classified or subject to exceptions. If you believe some government data has information of your target, file a FOIA request. According to Texas licensing department, here is the list of professions that require licensing. Some of them may require additional certification, bond, and insurance.

A/C Refrigeration Contractors Acupuncturists Air Permits Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors Appraisers (Real Estate) Aquaculture Licenses Architects Athletic Trainers Auctioneers Barbers Certified Public Accountants Chemical Dependency Counselor Child Care Admin and Facilities Chiropractors Cosmetologists Court Reporters Crematory Establishment Dentists and Dental Health Practitioners Dietitians Easement/Right-of-Way Registration Educator Certification Egg Licenses Electricians Elevators, Escalators and Related Eqpt Embalmer

EMS Personnel Engineers Funeral Director Funeral Establishment Grain Warehouse Licenses Industrial and Hazardous Waste Permits Insurance Agents and Adjusters Interior Designers Laboratory Practitioners Landscape Architects Marriage and Family Therapists Massage Therapists Medical Physicists Midwives Motor Carrier Registration Motor Vehicle Dealers Nursery/Floral Licenses Nurses Opticians Organic Certification Perfusionists Pesticide Applicators Pharmacists Physical and Occupational Therapists Physician Assistants Physicians Plumbers and Plumbing Inspectors Podiatric

Physicians Podiatrists Police Officers Polygraph Examiners Private Investigators and Security Professional Counselors Property Tax Consultants Property Tax Professionals Prosthetists and Orthotists Psychologists shows CSA population Radiologic Technologists Real Estate Inspector License Real Estate License Sanitarians Seed Certification Sex Offender Treatment Providers Sign Language and Oral Interpreters Social Workers Speech Lang. Pathologists/Audiologip Tracing & Professionists Surgical Assistants Tow Trucks and Operators Vehicle Storage Facility Veterinarians Water Quality Permitting Weights and Measures Licenses Well Drillers and Pump Installers

Skip Tracing & Social Networks, Internet Forums & Social Engineering

A lot of personal information is volunteered by your subject on social network websites. They simply unknowingly leak their private information to the public through their blogs. That is a great place for skip tracers to glean private data from. People post a lot of personal information on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendster, LinkedIn, Habbo and Orkut. Granted, some of the information is only accessible to "friends". Skip tracer can send a friend request to the subject and get in subject's friends network. Sometime the request is sent to friends' friend to gain access to desired information. Social engineering also deploys emails, instant messaging, and regular mail to trick subject into divulging personal data. It use the same tactic like sending an email of lottery winning notice and asking for delivery address as some computer hackers and con artists. Dumpster diving can also gain information on bank accounts and other person data on unshredded statements and writings.

Skip Tracing & Combined Statistical Areas

Human beings are creatures of habits. The person you are looking for statistically maybe still in the same metropolitan area. Friends, relatives, co-workers and other human network this person relies on to survive is most likely in the same metro area even if the person does not have a permanent residence and move from apartment to apartment. According to wikipedia, here are 125 Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs) based on 2009 data from United States Census Bureau. Table shows CSA populations in 1000's. This will give you an idea of effort required to narrow it down in a particular CSA and set your bounty accordingly.

New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA 22,232 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA 17,820 Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI 9,804 Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV 8,440 Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH 7,609 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA 7,427 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 6,805 Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD 6,533 Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX 5,968 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL 5,831 Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI 5,327 Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA 4,158 Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI 3,604 Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO 3,110 St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL 2,892 Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH 2,891 Orlando-Deltona-Daytona Beach, FL 2,747 Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA 2,445 Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA-NV 2,436 Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC 2,389 Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN 2,214 Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS 2,136 Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, IN 2,064 Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH 2,031 Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump, NV 1,947 Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI 1,760 Austin-Round Rock-Marble Falls, TX 1,750 Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield, UT 1,743 Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC 1,742 Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Columbia, TN 1,666 Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC 1,581 Louisville-Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, KY-IN 1,395 Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI 1,327 Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, CT 1,313 Oklahoma City-Shawnee, OK 1,297 Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC 1,264 New Orleans-Metairie-Bogalusa, LA 1,235 Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL 1,212 Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY 1,203 Albany-Schenectady-Amsterdam, NY 1,151 Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY 1,127 Dayton-Springfield-Greenville, OH 1,066 Fresno-Madera, CA 1,063 Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN 1,053 Tulsa-Bartlesville, OK 979 Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA 885 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR 862 Sarasota-Bradenton-Punta Gorda, FL 845 Baton Rouge-Pierre Part, LA 809 Columbia-Newberry, SC 783 Toledo-Fremont, OH 732 Syracuse-Auburn, NY 725 Chattanooga-Cleveland-Athens, TN-GA 690 Lexington-Fayette-Frankfort-Richmond, KY 685 Youngstown-Warren-East Liverpool, OH-PA 670 Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon, PA 667 Wichita-Winfield, KS 646 Des Moines-Newton-Pella, IA 631 Madison-Baraboo, WI 628 Portland-Lewiston-South Portland, ME 623 Fort Wayne-Huntington-Auburn, IN 610 Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope, AL 591 Jackson-Yazoo City, MS 568

South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka, IN-MI 564 Huntsville-Decatur, AL 557 Lafayette-Acadiana, LA 546 Port St. Lucie-Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL 541 York-Hanover-Gettysburg, PA 531 Lansing-East Lansing-Owosso, MI 523 Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol (Tri-Cities), TN-VA 503 Reno-Sparks-Fernley, NV 471 Rockford-Freeport-Rochelle, IL 455 Columbus-Auburn-Opelika, GA-AL 450 Corpus Christi-Kingsville, TX 447 Asheville-Brevard, NC 442 Shreveport-Bossier City-Minden, LA 432 Montgomery-Alexander City, AL 417 Savannah-Hinesville-Fort Stewart, GA 417 Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville, TX 416 Peoria-Canton, IL 412 Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley, GA 394 Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS 394 Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, WI 385 Myrtle Beach-Conway-Georgetown, SC 324 Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North, MI 307 Lubbock-Levelland, TX 298 Longview-Marshall, TX 271 Midland-Odessa, TX 266 Tyler-Jacksonville, TX 253 Dothan-Enterprise-Ozark, AL 239 Lafayette-Frankfort, IN 230 Lake Charles-Jennings, LA 225 Fargo-Wahpeton, ND-MN 222 Claremont-Lebanon, NH-VT 214 Eau Claire-Menomonie, WI 202 Monroe-Bastrop, LA 202 Albany-Corvallis-Lebanon, OR 199 Santa Fe-Espanola, NM 188 Fond du Lac-Beaver Dam, WI 187 Bend-Prineville, OR 181 Lima-Van Wert-Wapakoneta, OH 179 Sunbury-Lewisburg-Selinsgrove, PA 173 Idaho Falls-Blackfoot, ID 170 Salisbury-Ocean Pines, MD 169 Mansfield-Bucyrus, OH 167 Lumberton-Laurinburg, NC 165 Jackson-Humboldt, TN 163 Jonesboro-Paragould, AR 161 Wausau-Merrill, WI 161 Sioux City-Vermillion, IA-NE-SD 157 Williamsport-Lock Haven, PA 153 Ithaca-Cortland, NY 149 Fairmont-Clarksburg, WV 149 Paducah-Mayfield, KY-IL 136 Kokomo-Peru, IN 134 Cape Girardeau-Sikeston-Jackson, MO-IL 134 Findlay-Tiffin, OH 130 Beckley-Oak Hill, WV 125 Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, IL 123 Ames-Boone, IA 113 Corbin-London, KY 96 Fort Polk South-De Ridder, LA 82 Columbus-West Point, MS 80 Union City-Martin, TN-KY 71 Clovis-Portales, NM 63

Skip Tracing & Asset Recovery

"Tote the Note" car lots who provide auto financing with low down payment to those of less stellar credit may hire repo man if the payment is late and if they think their collateral is at risk. It is a crime to hide the collateral intentionally to avoid repossession. It is also a crime to drive it across state line to avoid a repo. However if you do get yourself into this situation, you understand that by law the asset recovery process may not breach peace, meaning, if you are sitting in the car, or standing in between the car and the repo truck, the repo man can not touch you, or use violence to haul away the vehicle.

With car lot dealer financing, you have little time between late payment and repossession. If you have car loan with auto financing company or a bank, you have a longer grace period to work out a payment plan. These financing companies have all the tools at their disposal. Additionally they also have access to your credit report since you own them money.

Skip Tracing & Bail Bond Enforcement

When the fugitive jumps bail, the bond company forfeits their pledge to the court, and they have all the financial incentives to find you. Bail bond enforcement agent (BEA) has a lot of power when hunting for fugitive. They can enter the home without warrant. They can apprehend you across state line. They do have to follow state Uniform Criminal Extraction Act. In some non-bail states, BEA may even get caught with kidnapping if they try to apprehend their fugitive. In these jurisdictions, bounty hunter must wait for a bench warrant from a local judge who has jurisdiction over their fugitive before they can recover their fugitive and rendition him/her back to bonds person's home state.

Pets Lost & Found

Here are some tips on finding your lost pets. I understand losing a pet can be a traumatic and emotional experience. But when posting a bounty or reward, be sure the ad is full of useful information and has all the relevant names and key words to connect yourself to the finder. Use ample and accurate description for your pet in the ad. That is how the finder finds you through major Internet search engines.

BREED: There are perfectly nice people who are willing to help, but they don't know anything about dog breeds, except very common ones. Tell what it is, then describe it. If the breed has more than one name, put down all of them. Some people still know the Borzoi as a Russian Wolfhound. Some people aren't familiar with all the breeds, so give an additional description (i.e.,"tall, slim like a Greyhound, mostly a short coat, but longer hair on the ears, belly, tail and fringes on the backs of the legs"). Lots of people can't spell well, so watch for 'shepard' (shepherd), shitzoo (shih tzu), afgan (afghan), chiwawa (chihuahua), etc. If yours is a pit breed like an American Staffordshire, be sure to use both words in both your ad and your searches; 95% of people will call it a pitbull. If you're doing a search, try putting in just part of the breed name, just in case.

If it's an uncommon breed, tell what it looks like, possibly referencing a much more common breed. "A Havanese??? What on earth is that? Oh, this cute little cockapoo is one?" A Belgian Tervuren looks like a Shepherd/Collie mix to most people. People see Malinois all the time on the police news clips and still think they're German Shepherds. Many people don't know there is anything but the Miniature Schnauzer. Many lesser-known breeds look like mutts and crosses, so you'd better say so if you want results.

NO ACRONYMS! Forget the abbreviations that don't mean anything to most people. No PB, BC, ACD, GSD, ESS, WCP.

Mutts and mixed breeds: If it's a mix, call it what it looks like, not what someone told you it was. If you think your dog is a Chihuahua, but it looks like a Yorkie/Poodle mix, SAY SO. Ego has no place here. Photos are ideal. Write down both breeds and any breed that people many confuse with in your ad. Keep in mind, the finder may not be an expert in the paticular breed.

Color: Indicate color without jargon. YOU know it's tri-color, but to many people it's just mostly black with a little brown on the face and ankles with white chest and feet. You call it sable, others call it a goldy-brown. It's not mahogany, it's reddish. Keep it simple. Some people are fully or partially colorblind - my brother can't tell an orange tabby from a brown one, even side by side.

Sex: Believe it or not, many people don't know how to determine if a dog or cat is male or female. I've known people who thought a neutered male was a female ("Well, there aren't any balls!"). Keep this in mind when you're searching the Lost & Found lists.

Age: keep it simple: 6 weeks, 3 months, 5 years, grey on muzzle, arthritis, can barely walk. "Four months", not "seventeen weeks".

Size: Approximate size can be useful. "Large" means a medium Lab to some people, a St. Bernard to others. "About 10" at top of shoulder but only weighs 8 lbs, very slim" says it all. "Thin due to recent illness", "kind of chubby", etc might help.

Where pet was lost: If you're posting on a national website and live in a smaller town, be sure and tell what direction you are from the nearest main city. You just never know who is looking or where they are.

Forget useless information in the ad, like their name (my dog is deaf to strangers calling her name), purebred, championship status, games they like to play, most personality traits, and most details on how they came to be lost are usually worthless, but some can be useful in a phone or email conversation to help identify the dog. Want to advertise that your missing champion show dog is worth $40,000? That's stupid. Don't entice someone into an extortion plot that can go bad.

ALWAYS Hold something back! The way to determine if someone really has your dog is to keep one or two special bits of information to yourself. Don't advertise scars, the fact that the dog only has 3 toes on the back foot or is missing a toenail, or one ear flops over. YOU ask THEM if the dog they found has anything different with the back feet or ears (only in very general terms), and see what they say. There are too many Western Union scammers out there who try to cheat you out of your hard earned money.

Microchips - Don't EVER post the microchip number! If you post the number, a scammer can call and say they've found a dog with that chip number, but they're just reading it off your ad. They don't have your dog, they just want your money. If they truly might have your dog, they can have the dog scanned free at most vets and shelters.

If you got your pet microchipped and didn't register the number, you can either contact the vet clinic that inserted the chip, or call your chip manufacturer and ask them if you can immediately register the number. Once registered, you can call them and have them flag the pet as Lost or Stolen.

REMEMBER: Microchip companies usually CALL YOU THEMSELVES when someone says they found a pet with a chip; they take the caller's phone number and address and GIVE IT TO YOU, they don't usually give it to the finder. However, they may give your information to a veterinary clinic or an animal shelter.

AVID: 800-336-AVID (800-336-2843)
HomeAgain: 866-738-4324
ResQ: 877-PETLINK (877-738-5465)

Photos: Take some decent photos of your dog before he gets lost. Take it from the dog's head level, not aiming down at him from above. Odd photo angles distort the look of the dog. If the dog is small, put it on a chair or table, and have someone hold the leash. Don't take a photo of a black dog in shade or indoors. Don't put a white dog in front of a white wall.

Never assume that your pet is still in your neighborhood, town or even the state. Dogs get stolen and sold. They get picked up as unwanted strays and given to a girlfriend who turns them loose, or they can be found as strays and re-homed. A well-intentioned person can pick them up and then lose them on the way home. They can get picked up by a vindictive neighbor and dumped miles away from home. Some people won't advertise finding a pet, because they want the owner to advertise; not advertising means (to them) that you don't care, so they keep the dog. Keep looking -- Stolen dogs have been known to escape. I personally know a poodle that came home (beautifully groomed) two years after disappearing from a locked yard.

Stolen dogs are often sold. Check the "Dogs for Sale" ads in your area and up and down the towns along your nearest freeway. If you think one might be yours, play dumb, hesitant about getting a dog. Many of them are sold for $50 for drug money. Don't be a fool and play Mr. Blustering Macho. If it's your dog and the price is reasonable, just pay it and get out. Don't go alone, but don't take an idiot or talkaholic. Morons will screw up everything, so leave them home. Leave the kids and other pets home, too.

Consider putting a Dog-Wanted ad in local papers for your general type of dog. Don't be too specific. Use an alternate phone number from what you used in the lost flyers and ads. If you get a call, meet in a public place. His place: you get killed for your money. Your place: they come back and steal the dog again.

A reward offer may push someone who knows something over the edge into calling. Who cares if they're lowlifes if they help you get your dog home?

The law doesn't give a rat's patootie about your dog. But if someone contacts you with a high ransom demand, that's extortion, which IS a crime. Agree to pay, tell them you'll have to borrow the money or get it out of the bank and tell them to call back in an hour; in the meantime, call the police. If they're not busy, if they like dogs, if they're in a good mood, if they have time, they may help. Insisting may help.

Flyers - Plaster the area and do it right away. Have them printed with WATERPROOF (laser jet) ink. Don't give a lot of details in small print then post them where traffic is flying by at 50 mph. Flyers in those places should be simple with very large print: "Lost Lab, black, (123) 346-6789". Where people will be on foot or driving slowly, you can give more details and a photo: "Lost Lab, black w/some white, neutered male, 2 yrs old, Gresham area. Call any time, day or night: (your phone numbers)".

Putting flyers in mailboxes is illegal, and will be removed by the mail carrier. But you CAN fold them and tuck them between the mailbox flag and the box. Fold them so the LOST DOG is facing outward. If you see your mail carrier, give a flyer to him/her - they see a lot of dogs.

Kids live "closer to the ground" than adults, and probably know every dog in the neighborhood. Point out that there is a reward. If they're bored, they may cruise around on their bikes and look in people's yards. You can't buy that kind of coverage. Keep contact quick - you don't want to be called in as a prospective kidnapper or molester.

Mail flyers to all the vets in the area, and as far as you can. If your dog is one that gets grooming, like a poodle or schnauzer, mail them to all the groomers in the area, and maybe all the doggy daycare places.

Map and Scent articles - Keep track of where your pet may have been seen, and when, as it may form a pattern. Mark the sightings on a local map for searches and posting flyers. Leave some old recently-worn t-shirts with your scent on them and some food to help keep the dog in the area. If you have another dog, take it there to pee (you could, too). If possible, go to a sighting location and park the car, wait and watch. One woman went to sleep in her car with the window open, and woke up when her dog tried to jump into the car. Dumb luck does figure into the equation sometimes.

Shelters - Don't just call or fill out a form at the local Animal Shelter. Most places have a 2- or 3-day limit, so GO THERE at least every other day. And don't depend on phone calls. Some people who work at shelters are dumber than roadkill, and wouldn't know a Sheltie if they fell over it, much less a Malinois. But they aren't going to admit that they don't know, they just say, "No, we don't have any of those in here right now", while your dog has a "KILL TODAY" sign on his cage.

Ask at the shelter if they keep notebooks of pets that are being held by finders. Some people don't trust shelters, so they will care for it at home. If the shelter has a notebook, check the FOUND book, add your own flyer to the LOST book. (Thurston Co., WA shelter has these books.)

Watch out for scammers who don't have your pet but just want your money. They see your ad and call, offering to call/fax people in your area, but they just take your money. There are other people who say they found your dog in another state, he was hit by a car, and they need $1000 to pay the vet bill and ship the dog home. THIS is where your withheld info comes in handy, and where you can lose money if you posted the dog's microchip number. PEOPLE LIE.

Your kids - Kids only have one job: taking flyers to school to post and pass out. Unless you have teenagers with functioning brains who can take accurate messages, don't let your kids take phone calls about the lost pet. Keep in mind that the person calling may not really HAVE your pet. Make sure your kids understand the situation and what they can and cannot do. If your toddlers are in the habit of grabbing the phone, you're S.O.L. NEVER allow your kids to physically respond to an ad.

Contact your breed rescue (state and national), and the clubs.

Put ads in the local newspapers, and ask if you have to pay extra for online ads. Posting a bounty or reward on this website however, is always FREE!