# What is a good trusted site to find an old friend?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-trusted-site-to-find-an-old-friend/549658>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 9, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-trusted-site-to-find-an-old-friend/549658 "2010-08-09T01:47:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-trusted-site-to-find-an-old-friend/549658/1 "2010-08-09T01:47:50Z")

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So I am trying to reconnect with a friend from my Navy days.  
I have been putting his name in various online search engines in hope of finding an email address. So far, I seem to have found a few bits and pieces here and there: a birthdate here, a list of cities there, a middle name somewhere else.

I’m quite willing to pay the small fee for the address or phone or email, but this area of business seems pretty scammy and I don’t want to get into any arrangement with a shady dealer.

How should I proceed?

One place that has enough of his prior cities to know they are right is **[ussearch.com](http://ussearch.com)**.  
Another that seems to crop up a bit is **[intelus.com](http://intelus.com)**.

I don’t want to get involved with a site that is on the same level as “ringtonez” sites that get you hooked into a perpetual contract that cannot ever be stopped.

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**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-trusted-site-to-find-an-old-friend/549658/2 "2010-08-09T01:52:13Z")

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Have you tried the obvious, Facebook? Or, if you know his current city, you could try the courts’ public records- if he has had so much as a traffic ticket, it should be on there, with whatever address he had at the time. Also, if he has any professional licenses, such as electrician, it’s a good chance his address is registered there.

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-trusted-site-to-find-an-old-friend/549658/3 "2010-08-09T01:57:51Z")

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[Zabasearch](http://www.zabasearch.com/) is a good starting point though it can be hit or miss at times.

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-trusted-site-to-find-an-old-friend/549658/4 "2010-08-09T02:52:42Z")

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Maybe [Veromi.net](http://Veromi.net). It gave me a little bit more extensive initial search information than some other sites did.