How do you do a stolen car search? Do you have to be a public official?

Thanks

We have to take the car and the proper Kansas bill of sale to a Highway Patrol inspection station. The do a 50 state search there. If all comes back okay, they give you the paperwork to the DMV. At least that's how it works here in KS,

We have also learned that the earlier the date is on your bill of sale, they put you in the front of the line and process getting a title quicker. We've had a title within 3 days of inspection.

I'll start the process right away with the seller on the 56 C series pickup I bought last week. Another reason I moved on buying this truck, aside from its solid condition, its a local truck and I can get a list of names back to the original owner. The original owner sold it to a local well know collector of tractors and old vehicles. That person is the father in law to the person I bought the truck from. However, in WI the sale of a vehicle requires the seller to have a valid title to transfer to a new owner, a bill of sale is not enough to allow me to take legal possession of the truck, even if it has not been registered for 20+ years.

Wisconsin DOT has a title replacement program that starts with MV2896 form to trace the previous history of known owners. Given I have a known history of previous owners of the truck that will help the process. That along with WIS DOT MN 2928 should get the process going, possibly to the point of a surety bond process to get legal ownership of the truck in my name. I assume I can't take/move the truck from the seller's property until I have that done, even if, as he says he did not get the title from his father in law before he moved it to his garage. To the WI DOT, the truck may still be titled to his FIL, and I will not have legal ownership until that is resolved. But, the WI Collector plate on the truck is still current to the WI DOT, so through contacts I have at the Sheriff's Dept I can have the plate number traced to the "owner". So far the seller has been very up front and helpful, so I'll work with him to insure no issues before I can take it.

The last one I ran was before covid, so that might have changed everything.

A couple years ago there was an online site you could type in a vehicle ID number and do a search (back then it was free). I don't know if that is still available. Google may be your friend.
I have a friend that is a police officer, he will run a vehicle ID for me, if we don't do it very often (its not something they are suppose to do for the public). The police used to be more helpful then they seem to be lately.

A private investigator can run the VIN and find the same things law enforcement can. There used to be a member here who was a P.I. who did it for me for a very reasonable fee. It was years ago, and I can't remember his name here.