Personnel Records
If you have access to the personnel records of a large company, an employment agency or a government agency, you're In Like Flynn. In the records you'll find complete dossiers of dozens of employees, ex-employees, deceased employees, and all their families. The information will likely include background, education, and the name, place and date of birth all neatly spelled out. The names of relatives, friends, past employers and where they live may also be in the files--all grist for the mill of the identity changer. Sometimes there are separate files for deceased employees, which makes the job easier; while most companies are very protective of their personnel files, they don't worry that much about the silent majority.
The Right Fit
It is easy enough to find the identity of a dead person to acquire--someone whose birth and death records never crossed--and you can therefore be a little bit choosey about exactly which identity you take. You want an identity that suits your purposes well, so it is best to consider some of the secondary characteristics of the identity you are going to appropriate.
There are advantages and disadvantages to certain surnames. Don't choose a name like "John Smith" or "John Doe," because such a name cries out to be investigated if you ever get stopped by a police officer. The best names seem to be those from the British Isles or Northern Europe because they are fairly common all over the U.S. One name may fit great in Flint, Michigan but go over like a lead balloon in Flippin, Arkansas.
Spanish or Spanish-sounding surnames should be avoided. This is due to the immigration difficulties between the U.S. and its neighbors to the South. Anyone with a Spanish-sounding surname is checked much more thoroughly at the border with Mexico. In fact, I've seen immigration officers interrogating Hispanics in bus stations as far north as Albuquerque, New Mexico. While the name is really a small detail, it is the details that often trip up identity changers.
You also want to look at the education of the person whose identity you're taking. Hopefully, they already have a good college degree that will help you get a job. If not, you may have to go back to school, which is not as bad as it sounds. Universities are excellent places to spend time while you are getting used to your new identity. Students come under less scrutiny than your average working stiff. Also, employers and/or neighbors don't seem to ask as many questions about your past if you've only recently graduated from college.
You may want to avoid any identities that have very specialized training in their backgrounds. You would probably be foolish to acquire the ID of a doctor, not only because you will have to assemble an enormous amount of documentation to support this identity but also because you may be called on to use your professional skills--which you don't really have. Taking the identity of a demolitions expert would also be a foolish choice, because you never know when some arsonist is going to trigger a police search for people with "your" documented skills.
It would be nice if you could find the identity of someone who was engaged in work that you, yourself, can perform. Or perhaps the person whose identity you assume will have experience in an area of interest to you. If you can't find a good occupational match, the next best thing is a general kind of background that could be adapted to a variety of different jobs.
As a final note, you don't even want to think about assuming the identity of someone who left a family behind when they went. Chances are their ex-wife or kids are collecting Social Security or some other benefit as a result of the death. When you appropriate such an identity there are excellent chances that you will trigger a connection to the dead man's family. If someone's monthly check disappears because of you, it won't be long before the matter is cleared up--to your detriment.
DOCUMENTING YOUR NEW IDENTITY
As we have seen, the best way to build a new identity is to assume the identity of someone who's died without having their death officially noted in the place they were born. If you believe you have found the right identity to assume you may still have difficulty locating that person's place of birth, which is essential. Let's take a look at a few ways to uncover this information.
Several of the methods used to find a good identity will also provide the details you will need to document it. Obituaries, gravestones and newspaper accounts of disasters are all likely to contain information about the place of birth, the date of birth and the parents' names. The obituary of a person may provide the name of his former employer. Using a ruse you may be able to obtain the information you need from his employer's personnel file. If the person was a childhood friend or relative, you probably know some people to contact that would know their date and place of birth.
I know of one instance where a person knew the name and place of residence of someone who'd died that he thought would be a good identity to assume. Using a mail drop and letterhead run off in the deceased person's name, he wrote off to the U.S. Census Bureau to see if they had any information that might help him. The Census Bureau wrote back requesting $7.50. He sent them a money order through the mail drop. The information he received in return was not only enough to get the birth certificate he needed, but was in and of itself official enough to get a passport.
If you are having a difficult time of the research or live in a distant town where records aren't
