Connecting with Old Friends

Like a lot of people, I’ve used the power of the internets to get back in touch with people I’ve lost contact with. But there are a few folks I haven’t been able to get in touch with. Over time, I’ve had success with Google (and other search engines), Facebook, MySpace, WiseNut, and a few other sites (I don’t remember their names), but no luck on these last few.

I realize that some of the people I’m trying to locate may not want to be found (in general (like they are hiding from their past) or by me specifically (like they never paid back that 10 bucks I loaned them in '81)). What other ways have people have had luck connecting with people from their past?

Caveats:
[ul]
[li]I’m cheap and don’t want to use a paid online service.[/li][li]I’d feel creepy if I hired a private detective. Plus I’m cheap.[/li][li]I don’t have any old addresses or phone numbers for the people I can’t find.[/li][/ul]

Thanks in advance.

veromi.net is pretty good. You only get limited information for free but it can get a better search started.

If you know where they went to HS you could try classmates.com. I found an old college GF on there in Jackson Hole WY. Still haven’t had the guts to just drop by the Hole and say hi.

I’ve had some luck with whowhere.com.

If your friend’s name is rare enough, sometimes it’s just a matter of putting his/her name into Google and seeing what comes up.

I rediscovered an old friend that way, but when I tried to email him it bounced – that’s when I noticed his email was in the format of firstname@lastname.com, and his phone number was listed as (333) 444-5555. Oh well…

Recently I tried to re-connect with a friend I thought was still living in town. Turns out he’s become an independent film star!! :eek:

This is better suited for IMHO than GQ.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator