Can't get any credible info on the woman(Carole Alden)...only found a post by one of her daughters from her first husband which says that she was an awesome mom and was kind to animals and all that crap. Found one line on some other site which said that she was known as the queen of sado masochism in utah.

Is the full description of her life present only in the book?

A background check doesn't mean anything, as you point out.

Some reasons why:

• If the last name is Smith, Jones, Stephens, and even Kowalski can be common in some areas. Without the personal numbers (SSN, DL#, etc.) or having drill down on my personal info the typical background means nothing. If you are asking for my street address to meet up for coffee/dinner after meeting you on the net -- I'm going to step the other way, quickly.


• Typical public records conflate data incorrectly all the time. Look at the number of false paternity cases in California and other states.


• The history on a person can be distorted by one incident, or even a nasty divorce. The number of men that all of sudden come up with a series of DV charges after 10 years of peaceful marriage is amazing.


• Identity theft is easy. I put a profile online as John Smith. How do you know that I'm not Paul the Predator who stole John's id?


• How does the guy know that you aren't Sally the Psycho or Samantha the Stalker? What's good for the gander is good for the goose.

If you're that worried about the meet:

• Do it in a public place.


• Have a friend nearby.


• Keep it casual.

If you're really worried -- get a disposable cell number and use a disposable e-mail account. But if you are that distrustful it means that something about the person is nagging you, or you have trust issues that may need professional help.

I totally agree that background checks do not guarantee safety-- all they show is whether a person has been successfully prosecuted. A lot of sexual assaults involve first time convictions, not repeat offenders.

That being said, a background check may be one thing you can do to improve your chances. At the very least, it will save you from a sense of regret, after the fact, that a person's criminal behavior was public record and you didn't know it.

Speaking of paranoia and a sense of security, I thought you might appreciate this bit of news from the Detroit Free Press:

Hair, sketch could point to Oakland child killer

The hair has been linked -- but not definitely matched -- to an associate of Christopher Busch, a suspect in the killings. . . .

The hair was matched through mitochondrial DNA, a process that narrows the field of potential sources but cannot pinpoint a specific individual, according to the files. Still, investigators recorded the finding in boldface type as "the first physical evidence match" in the investigation.

Also recovered from all of the victims were white animal hairs. The files note the Busch family had a white Welsh terrier named Tabatha.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110520/NEWS05/105200386/Hair-sketch-could-point-Oakland-child-killer

From the Detroit News:

James Vincent Gunnels, a 50-year-old Flint native, was found to have a "mitochondrial" DNA match to Kristine Mihelich of Berkley, who was 10 years old when she disappeared for 19 days in 1976.

Gunnels was a childhood friend of one of the nephews of Christopher Busch, a convicted pedophile suspected of being involved in the killings. . . .

Busch was charged and later convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a minor four times in 1977 in four counties: Oakland, Montmorency Genesee and Midland. With each charge, Busch's father, a prominent General Motors executive, posted cash bonds to free his son. Busch lived in Birmingham during the time of the killings. He killed himself in 1978, a year after the killings stopped.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110520/METRO02/105200371/DNA-match-stirs-up-Oakland-County-child-killer-case#ixzz1MtxcxpI0

Even if a parent could do a background check back in 1975, the check wouldn't have shown anything about Busch's predilections. And who's going to suspect the son of a successful GM executive?

really? a background check cannot discover someone who is not a criminal because they have never yet done criminal activities? no kidding. thanks for that pearl of wisdom

@FG - that was meant as a slap to the imbeciles that want the government to force match.com and others to do background checks on all members as a condition of joining.

It's a false sense of security because all that will happen is those with records will simply go back to the old ways of getting victims, I mean dates.

Once again, the only one who can protect you is you. Be prudent, and you are far less likely to have trouble.

New York is talking about a violent offender registry. I tend to think that the public's right to know supercedes a convict's right to privacy but you can see where this is headed.

Next up, anyone accused of anything will find their name on a list. Anyone who thinks that the system won't be gamed hasn't seen what happened to Althouse's blog.

As noted, it still won't provide safety.

Freedom is tough, you have to make your own choices and take responsibility when it doesn't work out.

Ultimately you have to do your OWN homework... a convicing liar is tough to find even WITH a background check, depending if he's been caught.
see ho-hum bandit:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18023016
It was his soon to be ex-grilfriend that called the cops... would he have come up in a background check?

Like the girl who opened up hwere match or OK Cupid chat and discovered a naked guy on the video feed, you have to protect yourself, AS A BASIS.

The only person you can control is you.

I have a very unusual seeming name. I have a very unique last name. Unfortunately recently I have found out that there is someone by the same name (first & last anyway) and about the same age who has legal troubles on the East coast - some drunk driving charges, excessive speed, etc. If you google my name he shows up. People assume it must be me. I cannot really blame them. I mean, I know of no one with my last name who has some one with an identical name where it is not a jr./sr.

"That being said, a background check may be one thing you can do to improve your chances. " Maybe, but what you get for $15 isn't a damn background check. At most they pull a credit report. When the Defense Intelligence Service combs through your bank accounts, interviews all of your relatives and neighbors, and makes you take a comprehensive drug screening -- that's a background check. And even they, they wind up with Bradley Mannings.

I have a very unusual seeming name. I have a very unique last name.

I'm sort of in the same boat. My surname is unusual on this side of the pond. In my case if you find it in the phone book they will be related to me in some manner.

I mentioned this to a gf I had in the USAF in the late 80's. I moved on and got out. She ended up in D.C. She looked in the phone book -- saw the last name -- sent them a letter. They passed it on to other family members, to my mother, then to me. That was in 97.

I also had someone with the same name that did time for a DUI manslaughter. Luckily that is over and done with.