Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Attempting to find people can be an arduous and often frustrating task.
However there is some hope knowing that if a person was born, "THERE IS A RECORD!"
If they were born, there is a record.
If they went to grammar school, there is a record.
If they went to high school, there is a record.
If they went to college, there is a record.
If they got a driver's license, there is a record.
If they ever had a job, there is a record.
If they ever had a phone, there is a record.
(There is even a record of EVERY call they ever made!)
If they had a utility bill, there is a record.
If they ever subscribed to a magazine, there is a record.
If they had a bank account, there is record.
If they had a credit card, there is a record.
If they rented a video, there is a record.
If they had a library card, there is a record.
If they ever went to the doctor, there is a record.
If they ever voted, there is a record.
If they are a U.S. citizen, there is a record.
If they are not a U.S. citizen, there is a record.
If they were in the military, there is a record.
If they were arrested there is a record.
If they ever bought property, there is a record.
If they ever had Internet access, there is record. (and tracks!)
Everyone had a biological mother and father (That's how it works!)
Everyone lived somewhere.
Everyone had neighbors
Everyone had one or more friends.
Everyone had two or more relatives.
Now, if their mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, grandmother, or grandfather ever had one of the above, there is also a record.
Did you ever get a piece of mail with your name on it?
That is a lot of records. It may sound like rambling but the point is, if you really want to find someone, you can find them! If you think about it, when the police want to find someone, they usually do. It may take some time but they "always get their man!" (or woman...)
It is so very important to "THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX"
Perhaps you are looking for someone that you only knew where they lived when they were 16 years old. Maybe that was 20 years ago. Well, that person probably went to high school. There are probably only a few high schools in the area. You can narrow that down to district. That high school has teachers and principals that usually spend more than four years there. There is a very good chance that a teacher might remember the person. The principal would surely know the principal they replaced. Even if they didn't know that person specifically they probably knew SOMEONE in the same graduating year. Find someone that was in the same class. Every high school has a library. Every high school library has ALL of its yearbooks.
Maybe the person you are looking for bought property in that same town. Or maybe a family member did. Property records are all public information and that is held by the county of record. You can access many county records online now.
BEGIN BY SEARCHING THE NAME:
When you do a search in any database, start by entering first and last name and middle initial if you know it, and the state of last known address.
You might get lucky the first time. If you don't then broaden the search.. Just type the first initial and last name. This is especially important with women as many women prefer to only list their first initial.
Use different variations of the name. As an example: De Angelo might be listed as Deangelo. You will get dramatic differences in those results.
Be sure to "Google" the name... Your long lost friend might be a popular person and if you enter the person’s name, you might just get lucky. I was searching for a old friend. I put his name in quotes in Google and found out he was recently appointed president of a company in Oklahoma. I am in New York.
If you have a last known address, you can do a reverse address lookup. You might see that person's name or a relative or someone that bought the house from the person you are looking for. Also you can just enter the name of the street and see how many names and numbers come up. You can call the neighbors.
What did the person like to do? What places might they frequent? Who did they know? Who may have known them? Who might they have worked for? Who might have delivered their mail?
I had an experience in looking for someone. I was given a former employer. I went there and no one knew where that person could possibly be. I was leaving the office as the mailman was coming in. I asked the mailman if he knew the person. The mailman said "I'm new on this route." I asked where I might find the old mailman.. (letter carrier) He told me... I found the old letter carrier and he knew of the guy. He told me he was a golf fanatic. I went to the local golf course and talked to the golf pro there and ended up meeting the person I was looking for at his next tee time.
Don't just look for the person you want to find. Look for anyone they might be related to or lived near or worked with.
The telephone is your best weapon! (…along with the Internet)
People are generally willing to help you if you are polite and tell them who you are, how you came to call them and why. Be honest and be brief. Respect people's time and call at reasonable hours. And be very apologetic if you have an incorrect number. You may have many. Write down who you call so you do not call them twice.
GOVERNMENT DATABASES
Government databases are awesome places to search. You can go to the web site for the county in which your person may have lived and you can type in their name in the court section to see if there was ever a court action. You can search county property records. If anyone with the same last name ever bought property, they will be listed. It often shows multiple listings for multiple real estate transactions. You might just find the last house they purchased, go back to the reverse address search tool and find your party. You can check the county sheriff’s web site. Many allow a search for inmates past and present.
A WORD OF CAUTION:
Many databases that you search will say "One or more records found!" Then they will ask you to pay to go any further. You don't have to pay. Just take the information you get and cross reference it elsewhere. You can pay if you like or if you don't have the time to do all the searching. Just don't expect dramatic results. Often times you will be handed information that you could easily get yourself.
There are some good search firms out there. Just be careful. The ones that say you can get access to peoples’ plate numbers... stay away from. Not all records are public and privacy is a big, big issue in the U.S. Some states are "open" states and some are "closed" meaning public records are not so public.
Keep in mind that the worst thing that can happen is someone might say "no." That only means that you are ONE step closer to a "Yes!"
I use (( Investigate.net )) to do all my searches. All the database tabs remain visible while searching. All the databases are freely available on the Internet buy just collected in one spot.
I hope this post brings you closer to the one you are looking for.
Remember: THE ONLY WAY TO FAIL IS TO QUIT!
…and at the risk of offending a few… I might suggest everyone take a quiet moment and say a little prayer for help to the keeper of all the records.
Classmates dot com is one resource that may help.I have found several old school friends by posting a Free profile...However they do require a membership to contact someone you find on the site.
While this is really useful for people to think about if they're looking for someone, it's also kind of scary if you happen to be someone who doesn't want to be found.
I have helped people find lost relatives, birth parents and the occasional Dad who wasn't paying child support.
I use a couple sites to help me.
Www.knowx.com has a free search for only a couple states, Florida, Texas and Nevada I think that will tell you names of bride and groom for marriage record and if they were divorced.
www.intellius.com will tell you sometimes an age, people who are related to that person and the towns that person has lived in.
www.melissadata.com has a number of free searches that will give you general information, anything from an ISP to where an area code or prefix is for.
I tend to start by simply googling a persons name and see what comes up. I also search for ownership of property or mention in the county clerk records...many counties are fully searchable for free via the internet. Property records are public information...if you can't access them over the internet for a certain area, you can contact them directly and see how you can get a copy of the information you need. Of course you might not be around the corner to walk into the tax assessors office. I have been lucky and found the people I needed via the internet records.
If your lucky enough to have a social security number that can be traced back to what state they received their SSN in. That would give you a starting place on where to look for a person.
Alot of schools now have an online Alumni association, the names and contact information are not always immediatly available however, if your in the area, I have found that the libraries of schools generally have the old annuals from that particular school. The school I attended actually posts peoples married names and email address.
I was recently looking for an old friend with a pretty common name. When I googled him, I found he had a group set up on www.meetup.com. This gave me the town he lived in. I knew it was him because I knew he has always been into playing role playing games...
When I was in my 20s, I searched for and found my own birth Mother. I had only her name and the reasonable certainty that she would no doubt have married and have a different name by that time. Since it was a sensitive subject and I was not aware of how much her family knew, I told the story that I was doing genealogical research and this name had come up in my search. Luckily her last name wasn't Smith or something equally usual.
When I find a new search engine, I test it by looking myself up and then someone like my friend Chrissie who has lived in the same place for 20 years now. I on the other hand have moved around a bit...I was really impressed and a little frightened when www.intellius (broken link) had the towns I had lived in AND my correct age, all for free.
I found information in a very unlikely location. I was looking for information about my uncle who perished as a POW in the Philippines in WWII. All parents and siblings are deceased. I only knew his name, his hometown, and that he was in the Bataan Death March. No more.
I searched and came up with a group called American Battle Monuments Commission (www.abmc.gov) Through searching, I found my uncle's name and unit. As a relative, they even sent me a photograph of his headstone in the American Cemetery in Manila. I was awestruck.
I also found a group who memorializes the Bataan survivors,and was given some very detailed, very specific information about my fathers unit, why they were there, what happened, etc. from one of the researchers for that group. Turns out he had been a researcher for the book, "Ghost Soldiers" - about the soldiers fighting the Japanese in the Philippines in WWII.
I am forever greatful to folks like that, who glean their satisfaction from their ability to provide helpful information to people who need it. I only wish that I could have shared what I found with my Father and his siblings, who have all passed away. I know that I was the first one in the family to have seen that headstone (albeit a photograph of it). It was really quite overwhelming.
Good luck to all that search for loved ones. Don't give up. You are special people.
The person I am looking for has a very common name, in the United States there are well over 10,000 with the same name. I went to the schools he went to and was told by the dept. of education in NYC that I couldn't get any information on this person because of privacy issues. I wanted to look at year books and was told NO. I even went to the local Board of Ed. for the borough of The Bronx and was told to forgetaboutit.
No one at his school could remember him, remembered the name but not the person, I have his wife's name, they divorced. Don't know mother's/father's
name. Located friends of his, and everyone said the same thing he disappeared. I hired US Search and they couldn't find him, they said there wasn't enough information. No DOB, mother's/father's name.
I've been looking for nearly 13 years. Once a week, I get on the internet
and spend hours, going search engine to search engine. I've spent alot
of money trying to locate this person, I won't give up.
Some people do not wish to be found and if were would consider this info to be a great invasion to their privacy and can even threathen their life and that of their families. Other times, some people would love to be found too, some people are wanting to hide cause some people out there are mentally ill and carry a gun, so in light of this, use extreme caution in giving out info, been there myself so I speak from experience!
The person I'm looking for was into group harmony, he recorded a local hit record, we harmonized together as young teens, we parted, I went on to form my own group, had very good success, 40+ years and if it weren't for this person I would have never attempted to try. Now many years later I just want to reconnect for old times sake. Sing a little harmony, nothing more. I just want to know that he's well and happy.
Hello i am from Corfu Greece and i found out from my father Dimitrios (James) Spinoulas that i have a brother that was born in 1966. He would be now 42 years old.
My father was a greek saylor and went to Maryland Baltimore in 1965. There at the harbor he met 16 year old Columbia (first name) they went out a few times and then he left Baltimore with the greek military ship named (Contessa) and sayled back to Greece. He reseaved a letter from Columbia saing she was pregnant. My father didant contact her after that. In 1984 in Corfu my father was marride with my mother and had me and my sisters. Someone had come to tell him that an 18 year old boy was searching for him. My father never managed to see him. It was defenatly my brother. I dont know how else to look for him because i dont have his mothers surname.I do not know his name either. I have been searching for months. Please if there is any way you can help me i would be so grateful to you. Thank you. My email is carlaspin@yahoo.com
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
First Love
