It is most likely not appearing in your CR because the date of the adverse item is more than 7 years ago, and thus barred from credit report inclusion under FCRA 605(a)(5), whatever it is.
As for identifying what the debt is for, that is one of the reasons for FDCPA 809(a) and (b). To assist the creditor in identifying the source of any debt alleged to be due by a debt collector.
To assure you have the information you want, sections 809(a) and (b), in addition to requiring disclosure of your debt validation rights, imposes three very important requirements on a debt collector.
1. They most notify you by formal collection notice of their activities within 5 days of initial communication with you.
2. In that notice, they must disclose to you who the current creditor is.
3. If that still is not enough info for you to clearly identify the source of the debt, section 809(b) additionally affords you the right, in your DV letter, to require disclosure of the name and address of the original creditor.
All of that should give you timely and full information as to the source of the debt.
If you DV, be sure to include the additonal request for the name and address of the OC.
