[firebug]

I don't know how any of that would play out.  Especially the hacking part--  Looking into someone's records just by knowing their SIN is way beyond the current hacking rules, and if it's easy, that opens a huge can of worms.

[toad]

It's kind of a silly show, but honestly you might want to check out a couple episodes of Dog the Bounty Hunter for flavor. They do actually show some of how they track people down.

As you suspected, it's a lot of human intelligence gathering. They question family, ex-girlfriends, co-workers, neighbors, or people in the local drug scene. When did they last see them? (Are they lying?) What vehicle was the person in? Who owns it, what's the license plate, can they track it? Where did they like to hang out? They'll stake it out.

[El Lanzador]

While keeping the ideas of the real world and how bounty hunting from previous posters, keep in mind that this is a cyberpunk dystopia. It would not be out of place to have to gun down some hombres, Old West style.

If you want to really mess with your Runner's moral compass, see how they react to the old "Double bounty for dead."

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Better - double bounty for alive, but turned over to someone who is not the authorities, with the sure and certain case that they'll be tortured.  Think Mason Verger and Dr. Hannibal Lecter...