From THE PAPER TRIP II (1985)
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"Eden press now offers ID by MAIL, a complete guide to all the ID firms and their various products. Everything from 'drivers licenses,' state ID cards, student/employee ID, birth certificates, badges, press cards, memberships and diplomas is included. A special feature is an up-to-date section on ID machines, with a list of manufacturers. Price is $19.95." p.15
"Now that you know the date and place of birth, you can easily write to the county recorder and obtain P.W.'s birth certificate. Using this is an out-of-state context (where the person died in a state other than the one in which he is born), you will free yourself from any possible cross-referencing. You can use the certified copy of the birth certificate to obtain a new driver's license, state ID card, etc. You can also send in for a 'duplicate' Social Security card, and get it within a few weeks." p.17
"The safest way to use 'takeover' ID is to use it in a state different from that in which the person was born and died. Since the states are the basic repositories of almost all ID records, rather than any central file, it makes sense to operate in a state in which no records were ever compiled. ALL the federal records, such as Social Security, military, and passport, are initially derived from state records, and will not reflect data which have not originated from the states." p.17
"The COURT method is more foolproof. You may want to have an attorney file all the forms for you and accompany you to court, but it's also possible to prepare all the forms yourself. Clerks of most courts are quite helpful, and will at least tell you all the forms needed and the fees required for filing. They will set up your date for court appearance, and can usually be cajoled into providing other useful tidbits of information as well." p.18
"The way to carry out this new paper trip is to obtain all new ID from the state in which you change your name and then move to the state where you wish to live or operate under your new name. Once in the new state, begin 'trading in' your out-of-state, new ID for ID from your new state. The new state will have no reason to believe you are anyone other than who your old state ID says you are." p.18 (why did she stay in Texas after changing her name there?)
100 WAYS TO DISAPPEAR AND LIVE FREE
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http://www.textfiles.com/survival/dissapp.txt
"It can be super-cool to room in someone else's apartment or home. Check the daily newspapers for ads under heading like 'Rooms to share', 'rentals to share', or 'apartments to share'. This way all records relating to occupancy will already be in someone else's name."
"The basic technique is to recreate the records you want, provide the address of a mail forwarding service as that of the source of those records, and handle all correspondence *yourself*. By using photo duplication of altered documents, a little rubber-stamping, or even some "quick-print" offset printing, you can easily and rather quickly come up with working solutions to some of the most baffling problems in starting a new identity. You can have a field day creating all kinds of "backgrounds". The only limitation is your own imagination. These methods WORK, too!!"
"Receive all your mail at a 24-hour Post Office box. Use your 'legal' address to obtain the box, or any "friendly" address for that matter. Once you have the box, and continue to pay the rent for it, you can move every day of the week, and the Post Office won't care."
Wikipedia page on "GHOSTING"
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosting_(identity_theft)
"Among other pointers, the pamphlet advised readers to search newspaper archives for old articles about an entire family getting killed in an accident while on vacation outside of their home state. This scenario offers several advantages to a ghoster:
- Because the incident involved multiple deaths, there are multiple candidates (of different ages, and both sexes) for an identity that the ghoster can steal.
- Because the entire family died in the same incident, the dead person whose identity is chosen for ghosting is not likely to have any immediate relatives who are still alive and aware of his death.
- Because the family died outside their home state, their birth records and death records are archived in two different states and are unlikely to be cross-referenced. Also, if the deceased family's remains were not returned to their home community for burial, the staffers in the local records office are unlikely to be aware that the family is deceased and will not be suspicious when someone claiming to be a member of this family requests a copy of his birth certificate.
- Because the deaths occurred years ago, new requests for an old birth certificate are unlikely to stir anyone's memory of that individual's death."
It may just be because the group photo is such poor quality that I'm not perceiving it correctly. I did, however find another 8th grader whose photo interested me, so plan for yet another rabbit trail today.
