# Methods for locating someone you've lost contact with **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273 "2015-03-05T14:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/1 "2015-03-05T14:13:29Z")
I don’t have much to go on - first and last name, possible location, and age. I’ve checked the white pages site, people search engines, facebook and even the Social Security death index. Are there any other databases that I should check? ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/2 "2015-03-05T14:26:09Z")
I should mention that I’m trying to find this person as quickly as possible. Hiring someone to do a month long investigation wouldn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/3 "2015-03-05T15:33:33Z")
If you know what high school the person graduated from, you can sometimes find HS alumni websites that list current locations/contact info of old grads. Same for colleges. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/4 "2015-03-05T16:01:36Z")
Do you know the name of any friends or relatives? Besides high school, also college they attended? The people search engines you searched: did you pay any for their “full reports”? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/5 "2015-03-05T16:05:44Z")
You might find them on LinkedIn. I think you have to sign up for an account to search, but it’s free. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/6 "2015-03-05T16:26:56Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I should mention that I’m trying to find this person as quickly as possible. Hiring someone to do a month long investigation wouldn’t help. A private investigator works much more quickly than that. If you have the money, that would be the quickest and most certain way. If not, you should know that [there](http://www.yellowpages.com/whitepages) [is](http://www.intelius.com/) [not](https://www.peoplesmart.com/) [one](http://www.spokeo.com/) [reverse](http://www.peoplelookup.com/) [white](http://www.whitepages.com/) [pages](http://www.411.com/), [but](http://www.anywho.com/whitepages) [dozens](http://www.peoplefinder.com/). They have mostly the same information, but each of them has some stuff that the others don’t. It’d be well worth it to search through them all. ---
**Author:** ![dunkleosteus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkleosteus/32/9331_2.png) [@dunkleosteus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dunkleosteus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/7 "2015-03-05T16:36:08Z")
Mutual acquaintances, friends, family, previous employers, schools, facebook, linkedin, any known online usernames you might have for them. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/8 "2015-03-05T18:26:25Z")
Know anyone with a subscription for Intelius? Your attorney for example? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/9 "2015-03-05T18:53:52Z")
Have you tried [veromi.com](http://veromi.com)? ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/10 "2015-03-05T19:00:35Z")
Even the free part of those pay sites can give enough info to get you going. They will usually list the person’s age and location (city and state) and known associates. From there google or the local white pages may be all you need. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/11 "2015-03-05T19:11:36Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Do you know the name of any friends or relatives? Besides high school, also college they attended? The people search engines you searched: did you pay any for their “full reports”? I didn’t pay for the reports. None of the results they showed for free were exact matches. I did try veromi, and she was listed, but there was no contact info. The city they listed her in was 25 years out of date. > [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](#): > > A private investigator works much more quickly than that. If you have the money, that would be the quickest and most certain way. > [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Know anyone with a subscription for Intelius? Your attorney for example? I’ll look into this and those other links. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. She doesn’t appear to have an online presence, and we don’t know any of her friends. She drops in on her relatives, sporadically, but no one knows how to reach her, and now there’s an issue that she should know about ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/12 "2015-03-05T19:16:06Z")
Facebook? ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/13 "2015-03-05T20:20:04Z")
Before Facebook, I reconnected with a number of people through [classmates.com](http://classmates.com) If her name isn’t too common, and you know her age, [birthdatabase.com](http://birthdatabase.com) might help you find her current city. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/14 "2015-03-05T20:42:24Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Know anyone with a subscription for Intelius? Your attorney for example? I contacted a lawyer friend and asked for help. He ran a search, although I’m not sure where, which resulted in several numbers and a possible address. Some were disconnected, some weren’t her. The person in the complex of the office didn’t recognize the name, but it still might be worth sending a letter. I mentioned facebook in the OP, and I just tried [classmates.com](http://classmates.com). Struck out on both of those and all the links in **The Joker and the Thief** ’s post. I’ll have to see if there’s any interest in hiring a P.I. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/15 "2015-03-06T02:36:58Z")
Can someone explain to me how to search the Social Security Death Index? Is there a site run by SS, or is it done by private 3rd party sites like all those white-pages type of sites? Is it free? Does one have to register? What kind of information might one find? I’m also trying to determine the fate of an old friend that I haven’t heard from for a long time. I don’t want to simply try contacting him because I don’t want him to know (yet anyway) that I’m trying to contact him. His on-line presence, never extensive, seems to have disappeared. I wonder if he is even still alive. Eventually I’ll just call him and ask, but how would I know if I should believe whatever he says? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/16 "2015-03-06T03:25:04Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Can someone explain to me how to search the Social Security Death Index? Is there a site run by SS, or is it done by private 3rd party sites like all those white-pages type of sites? Is it free? Does one have to register? What kind of information might one find? > > I’m also trying to determine the fate of an old friend that I haven’t heard from for a long time. I don’t want to simply try contacting him because I don’t want him to know (yet anyway) that I’m trying to contact him. His on-line presence, never extensive, seems to have disappeared. I wonder if he is even still alive. Eventually I’ll just call him and ask, but how would I know if I should believe whatever he says? The Social Security Death Index consists of the Death Master File, [which costs a mere $1,825](http://www.ntis.gov/assets/pdf/DMF_RawData_form_v11a.pdf) to purchase. However, since the file is government data and thus not subject to copyright, [an older copy](http://ssdmf.info/) (2011) of it has been made available. ETA: I believe you can also call the agency at 800-772-1213 and they will verify a person’s death for you. **Omega Glory:** I have no more advice for you, but wish you the best of luck in your search. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methods-for-locating-someone-youve-lost-contact-with/714273/17 "2015-03-06T04:59:04Z")
Thank you. I ran my SSDI search through [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com)