HOW TO FIND LOST FRIENDS, CLASSMATES AND OTHER MISSING PERSONS FROM YOUR PAST

If you are searching for lost friends, classmates, relatives or other missing persons from your past, here are some excellent places to begin that search. While I cannot personally help locate missing persons, I believe the information below represents the best starting points available for using free web services to help you locate missing persons.

Finding missing persons from your past is not necessarily a simple task.. If you are lucky, you can quickly find a old friend or classmate by finding his/her email address on one of the many web sites that provide those service. Consider yourself unlucky if you are trying to locate a missing person by her maiden name -- they are just about impossible to find. As you continue, control your expectations but don't give up!

  1. The amazing people finder (has lots of links to lots of sources about people)
  2. MUDGE bbs (A bulletin board with many people-finding links)
  3. the Hot sheet (use all the tools and services listed under Directories)
  4. the Seekers (a place to leave or receive messages -- very well done!)
  5. UK Missing Persons (Notice board for those missing in the UK)
  6. NETinTouch (An international BBS for locating people)
  7. Search Center (The most comprehensive search center on the net) <NEW>

note: Try using the people finders to locate that friend or classmate by email address or by last known address or something similar. Use the search engines to locate places and things that you had in common with the person you are trying to locate.

  1. Classmates (sign up and be re-united with your classmates who have also signed up)
  2. American School Directory (New and still incomplete -- home page for 106,000 schools in the US)
  3. World Alumni Net (similar to Classmates but the focus is world-wide)
  4. High School Alumni (another high school classmates site)
  5. Reunion Net (News about reunions of all kinds -- family, military, high school, etc.)
  6. World University Collections (As the name implies, college alumni pages.)

note: These types of web sites are thriving but relatively new. It will take a while before they are completely discovered and used to any significant extent. These sites report successful reunions frequently. At the very least, use them to make your own presence known.

If you have found that missing person by using the links above, you are fortunate. If not, you should now focus on being a private eye of sorts. Begin searching for clues and associations -- people and things from your common past that can link you to the one you are searching for. Use the links above to begin looking for those common people, places and things.

  1. Vital Records Information (Tells you where to find state records)
  2. American Information Network (fee based access to the same databases the private eyes use)
  3. Family Tree Maker (Everything you could know about genealogy including links) <NEW>
  4. Quick Link (Another excellent adoption site with tons of good links)
  5. KnowX (Access to public records for many locations. There is a small cost for additional information)
  6. The Wall (Vietnam memorial page)
  7. Roll Call (Message posting & more for WW2 vets)
  8. Books about finding missing persons (If everything else fails)

note: Private investigators and lawyers charge for their services. They need basic information like the exact name of a relative, Social Security number of the sought person or recent address etc. Generally speaking, the more information you have the less it should cost. Find investigators by using a search engine. If you deal with a lawyer, consider choosing one from your state since legal access varies greatly and often requires local expertise.

  1. Constantly check those search engines and look for new ones -- they are getting better all of the time. Continue to use the people finder pages and the message boards as they continue to expand their functionally. Often, the best information is several pages into your search so keep digging.
  2. Try newsgroups. If you do not have a news reader, try Deja News. Look for "missing persons", "adoptions", or whatever you are looking for. This is a long shot but you can post messages. Who knows?
  3. When you are searching, make good use of keywords and keyword phrases. For example: "vital statistics", " missing persons", "lost friends", "find alumni", "friends and classmates", "affinity groups". Notice that it sometimes helps to combine the noun with an adjective or a verb. Know how to use the boolean operators employed by the search engine to get even better results. Try using whole phrases.
  4. To repeat, if you cannot find the person directly, you can probably find someone you knew in common -- relatives, old neighbors, an old friend, another classmate, fellow employees, etc. This is clearly the best strategy when the person you are looking for you cannot be found by using the free services above. Start from the beginning of this page with the name of a person who might know the person you are looking for!
  5. When you are on a related web page, always check all of the links in hopes of turning up another avenue to pursue. (for example, the Seekers above has an excellent list of links)
  6. Consider building your own web page to expose the names of the friends you are looking for. If you do not know how, chances are a friend does. Your service provider probably has all the tools you need for no extra cost. If not, search for free web pages and give it a try. If done right, several search engines will bring up your page when people request the keywords you have specified. Remember to highlight places and things as well as names. Also consider putting your autobiography on a web page of its own with an email address to you.
  7. It sounds simple but stay in touch with class reunions and the people who are in charge of them. They are the best source for keeping in touch with old classmates. If you know anything about the high school or college of the person you are looking for, the school can offer information about reunions.
  1. Register your name, email address and home pages with every appropriate service you can find on the net! Do the same for your friends and relatives. Use references to your home town, schools, clubs, dates -- anything and everything that will leave a trail from where you have been to where you are. Start with all of the services listed above.
  2. Women -- use your maiden name instead of your married name when you register yourself with the alumni and message posting services. Married names are the hardest obstacle to overcome because maiden names are how many people will remember you and they are usually lost forever in current web technology.
  3. Have your home phone number listed in your name and in the name of your spouse. Several white page oriented web sites make you visible if you are listed.
  4. Spread the word! People-finding is an explosive web happening. According to one source, 92% of web users thought finding people from their past was a high priority thing in their lives. If one person tells another and another, pretty soon -- like a chain letter -- somebody who remembers you may become interested and you will be getting a surprise Email. Maybe the person you are looking for will find you first. But, not if you are invisible.
  1. Find anything on line (Good reading -- how to maximize the results of search engines and other web resources)
  2. How to build a web page (A good down-load tutorial about basic web page creation)
  3. Yahoo search results on SEARCH ENGINES
  4. Missing Persons CyberCenter (A periodic column dedicated to finding missing persons)
  5. Maiden names from voting records (Texas only)
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If you know of anything I have omitted or if you have any suggestions on how to improve the page, 
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This page has been accessed  times since July 9, 1997.  
This page was last changed on December 18th, 1998.
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