# Anyone know a good way to track down someone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580 "2001-03-11T21:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heath\_Doolin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Heath\_Doolin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heath_Doolin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/1 "2001-03-11T21:42:18Z")
I am looking for a old friend from back in my high school days and am having the damnedest time locating her. Anyone tracked down anyone and know of a good way to do so? Just looking for suggestions ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/2 "2001-03-11T23:53:52Z")
There are a number of ways you _may_ be able to use to locate her. [list=1] [li]Through mutual friends from that time period. One of them may know where she is, or know someone who knows.[/li] [li]Her parents. If you have the last name, you may be able to talk to them-if they still live in the same town. An unusual last name is an asset in this case.[/li] [li]Hi Opal![/li] [li]Try a [google search](http://www.google.com). Type “her first and last name” into the search engine, and you may get a hit, though it’s a long shot if she has a common name.[/li] [li][Classmates.com](http://Classmates.com) may have some info as well, though to get to it, you would have to pay a fee. Just to see if she is listed costs nothing, although I think you have to sign up for the free portion of the service. [/list=1][/li] I think mutual friends are your best bet, if you are in contact with them. If you went to a private school(some public schools as well) there might be an alumni office that has some info. If she went on to college, that alumni office should have a last known address, but you may have trouble getting info out of them, as they usually only give info to alumni. ---
**Author:** ![Ell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Ell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ell)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/3 "2001-03-12T00:13:48Z")
Have you tried the FBI and/or CIA? They’re always helpful in these matters ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/4 "2001-03-12T00:32:44Z")
Now if only you had her SS number… [whowhere.com](http://whowhere.com) is one place. Also, the phone book of the city you knew she was in before is another. ---
**Author:** ![absoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@absoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/absoul)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/5 "2001-03-12T05:07:35Z")
HEALY: Ted, I’m the kind of guy who shoots from the hip. Now I want you to level with me. Did you knock this skirt up? TED: (indignant) No. HEALY: She’s blackmailing you, right? TED: (more indignant) No. HEALY: You want her dead, don’t you? TED: You can’t be serious. HEALY: Do you really expect me to believe this is a straight stalker case? ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/6 "2001-03-12T12:56:37Z")
I don’t claim it’s the best but I do find this to be a useful general resource: > **[The original true people search. Find names, addresses, phone numbers or emails.](https://www.searchbug.com/peoplefinder/)** > > When you need a true people search tool and don't want to deal with membership tricks or have to cancel anything. We get it. We'll help you find people, get a persons contact info, and won't try to sell you a membership, we promise. ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/7 "2001-03-12T14:04:16Z")
Did she go to college? You may be able to get in touch with her via their alumni organization. I also like [http://www.anywho.com](http://www.anywho.com) for telephone numbers. You can get them across the whole country with their searches. –tygre ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/8 "2001-03-12T14:35:48Z")
You went to high school with her? Try [GradFinder](http://gradfinder.com/) and [Classmates](http://www.classmates.com/p.tf/registration/). Registration is voluntary, but it’s fun to register yourself, and look for old friends from school. If you’re lucky, your friend has also registered. Both are free, but Classmates requires a paid membership in order to access all of the features, including getting the e-mail addresses of friends. You can still check and see if she’s registered or not, though. You can also try [The World Pages People Finder](http://www.worldpages.com/whitepages/) or [The Ultimates](http://www.theultimates.com/). I find that they are often out of date for people that move a lot, but it might give you a starting point. ---
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-a-good-way-to-track-down-someone/57580/9 "2001-03-12T15:23:38Z")
There’s lots of ways. Usually they work best in conjunction. For a small fee, [http://www.publicdata.com](http://www.publicdata.com) might have dmv records (depending on the state). Google is a good starting point. Look up by first and last name in ICQ and AIM, this can usually get you an email address, which you can feed back into google. The class reunion sites above work, if the person your looking for registered. [wp.bigyellow.com](http://wp.bigyellow.com) is good for finding phone numbers and addresses, if you know the city or at least the state.