# How to find a person **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425 "2020-03-13T17:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/1 "2020-03-13T17:38:48Z")
I’m trying to find a person who I knew 40 years ago and who I think I saw recently in a public place. I have the person’s full name, date/place of birth, and a 40-year-old address. I’ve tried all the usual ways to search (e.g. some are recommended [here](https://www.lifewire.com/essential-government-sites-3482757), as well as [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com). I tried setting up an account at pipl but for some reason it’s not allowing me to set up an account. Short of hiring a PI, what can I do? And if I need to use a PI, do you have recommendations? ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/2 "2020-03-13T18:08:17Z")
Go to this website : > **[Whitepages](https://www.whitepages.com/person)** > > Find people for free. Get current address, cell phone number, relatives and more. Search over 250 million people nationwide for free and find contact information and public records. Type in the name of the person and the state (don’t type the city because they may live in a different city than you think) The results will show people matching the name with approximate age and name of relatives. Once you have that do a google search with the name in parenthesis and the city. For example “John Doe” Detroit, MI It will probably bring up a LinkedIn or Facebook page and you can contact them from there. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/3 "2020-03-13T18:19:44Z")
am77494 : The problem is this person has a fairly common name and I don’t know what state the person lives in. I tried one of those sites where you pay a few dollars to find them, and it supposedly found 2 people in the country with that name and DOB, but there’s no listing of previous addresses so I hesitate to contact either of them. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/4 "2020-03-13T18:40:18Z")
There are different methods depending on why you want to find the person. Can you tell us that, or is it for nefarious purposes? ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/5 "2020-03-13T18:41:07Z")
We were close friends for a few months long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/6 "2020-03-13T18:46:46Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > I tried one of those sites where you pay a few dollars to find them, and it supposedly found 2 people in the country with that name and DOB, but there’s no listing of previous addresses so I hesitate to contact either of them. Really? One of those two people is likely the person you are looking for. A simple inquiry saying you’re looking to contact the person with that name who used to live at the old address you know should do the job without creeping the other person out. You’ve found your person, most likely. You just need to reach out. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/7 "2020-03-13T18:52:56Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > You’ve found your person, most likely. You just need to reach out. I just tried both addresses on whitepages and no person with the name I’m looking for lives at either place. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/8 "2020-03-13T18:58:26Z")
It seems that the person has taken some effort to cover their tracks and you should respect their privacy. Since you have two addresses from your search, find the counties in those cities. Look for property tax records on those county web pages. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/9 "2020-03-13T20:06:18Z")
I use [FastPeopleSearch](https://www.fastpeoplesearch.com/). It’s surprisingly accurate, except for the dates shown for residing at past addresses. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/10 "2020-03-13T20:19:34Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I use [FastPeopleSearch](https://www.fastpeoplesearch.com/). It’s surprisingly accurate, except for the dates shown for residing at past addresses. That page has some very interesting data behind it. It shows my current wife as “related to” my ex-wife. I didn’t know Eskimo sisters counted as relatives. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/11 "2020-03-14T00:05:08Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > That page has some very interesting data behind it. It shows my current wife as “related to” my ex-wife. I didn’t know Eskimo sisters counted as relatives. 🙂 Now I want to hear how you married two Eskimo women, who turn out to be sisters… ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/12 "2020-03-14T00:23:57Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I use [FastPeopleSearch](https://www.fastpeoplesearch.com/). It’s surprisingly accurate, except for the dates shown for residing at past addresses. That site doesn’t find me even if I give it tons of hints. But if I just type my name and nothing else, I am legion! And old. “Carol” sounds like a perfectly modern name to me, but I think kids these days regard it the way I would react to a name like “Bertha” or “Edna” - very old fashioned, in other words. Most of me are in their 70s! ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/13 "2020-03-14T00:29:16Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > It seems that the person has taken some effort to cover their tracks and you should respect their privacy. Not necessarily. In the absence of all-encompassing government databases of everybody and where they live, your likelihood of appearing in people search databases varies depending on your lifestyle choices. For example, people who own real estate in their own names, have registered to vote, and have vehicles registered in them are much more likely to appear in the underlying databases than those who don’t, which means that people who are making no effort to hide themselves can fly under the radar for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/14 "2020-03-14T00:32:34Z")
You could hire a skip tracer but that is probably too expensive. Their job is to find people using various databases and other methods. I know one thing they use is the credit reporting info such as Equifax, (or they did in the past. ) [Skiptrace - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiptrace) ---
**Author:** ![hocow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hocow/32/4112_2.png) [@hocow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hocow)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/15 "2020-03-14T18:56:29Z")
I usually had luck with [familytreenow.com](http://familytreenow.com) when I had to try to find people at my last job. It often had more recent info than the paid databases we had access to. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/16 "2020-03-20T21:32:34Z")
Set up a Facebook page under his/her name, with as much details as you know and with a message to contact you. Most people Google their name a few times a year. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/17 "2020-03-20T22:42:49Z")
Public [data.com](http://data.com) used to be very good for looking up drivers license info just using a name. But now their down to just 2 states, Florida and Texas, so if that’s not your area it’s useless. When I have to do a skip trace I do a utilities check. Most people have an electric hook up. But that option is not available to non-LEOs. I have done a near perfect job at hiding my info. None of the programs online have been able to find me and my last name isn’t very common. A utilities search would also not reveal where I am. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/18 "2020-03-21T04:56:34Z")
Her Majesty’s Government released this useful documentary, coming at the question from a rather different direction, some years back: [Monty Python: How Not To Be Seen - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGv8oAHxekU) ---
**Author:** ![JasmineOlive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@JasmineOlive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JasmineOlive)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/19 "2020-03-23T04:09:40Z")
AnyWho provides a free online people search directory where you can find people by their name, address or you can do a reverse lookup by phone number. The AnyWho People Search is updated weekly with phone numbers of individuals from across the nation. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425/20 "2020-03-23T04:55:38Z")
> [@JasmineOlive](#): > > AnyWho provides a free online people search directory where you can find people by their name, address or you can do a reverse lookup by phone number. The AnyWho People Search is updated weekly with phone numbers of individuals from across the nation. Nope. I am not on there. My brother is, but I am not listed under his relatives list. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-a-person/849425.md?page=2)