Vital records are those that chronicle birth, death, marriage, and divorce. Many of these can be particularly difficult to track down, especially if the researcher is trying to find freely available information online.
The Social Security Master Death Index (SSDI) is available for free online through a number of genealogy websites. Many of these website now require that you sign up for their service before allowing you to access complete records. It is available for a fee from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), part of the Department of Commerce. It is also available through Westlaw.
Some websites that include the SSDI:
http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ssdi/
http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3693
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1202535 (Currently free!)
The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner provides access (for a fee) to autopsy and non-autopsy case reports.
Depending on the state, marriage and divorce records can often be difficult to obtain. The best bet is to look at the county clerk's website for the county in which the couple were married or divorced to get more information.
In Oklahoma, marriage licenses are recorded with the county clerk. Some are available through the OCDR & OSCN dockets.
When reviewing docket information for Oklahoma, ML denotes a marriage license, and FD denotes a family/domestic case. PO signifies that a Protective Order has been issued.
Birthdatabase can help you find out someone's actual date of birth. Type in the person's name and estimated age and then click "Search."
