Remember that your friend might have changed their name. If the person is a woman, it is even more likely that she might have changed her last name after getting married. Some places have maiden names, but not all. Using a middle name in your search will help narrow it down, especially on the internet and make it more likely that you’ll find the correct Jimmy Smith.
If you knew them when they were working, try to remember what it was that they did for work. Try to recall friends (especially mutual friends) and family members. Sometimes you can find your lost friend through a friend of theirs or of yours, or through one of their family members. If you have an old phone number that you think might be theirs, try a phone reverse service to see if the number is actually attached the person you think it is. Phone reverses don’t always work, but they can cut off a lot of search time if they do turn up the right name. [3] X Research source
In you’re using a search engine like Google, you’ll be able to type in ‘Jimmy John Smith, Xtown, North Carolina. " If you have more information, you could put something like ‘Jimmy John Smith, Xtown, North Carolina, Xtown Baptist Church’ which could give you some leads for who to contact. If you know the town that your old friend might be living in, you can run a search in the Metacrawler White page, an online search engine which uses Google searches, the yellow pages and the white pages to look for information and which could turn up a phone number or an address.
You could also try using a search engine like Pipl[5] X Research source , which locates people by searching through lots of different public records databases. It can turn up documents like employment records, which can help you find someone. A website like Peekyou[6] X Research source gives social networking results as well as news stories, business information, even blogs. It’s important to remember that these types of services might not have the information you’re looking for. While they have access to a lot of different kinds of records, it doesn’t always give you the results you’re looking for.
Facebook has groups from people from colleges, high schools, social groups, religious groups, etc. You can use these Facebook groups to reconnect with people. If you’ve found someone on Facebook that you think is your friend, send them a message asking if it’s them and ask if you can friend them. You could even include a reminiscence or two to remind them why you were friends!
Using a search engine like Classmates. com[10] X Research source you can find old classmates from basically any year. With a free basic membership, you can look for old school, college, or military friends. Friends Reunited is mostly for people in the U. K. with some outreach to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong. But it gives you access to ways to find people who you’ve have common school, university, military service, workplace, club, or a street address with. A social networking site like BatchMates[11] X Research source is based in India but has membership worldwide. You can search for friends by things like name, institute, or company and you can send them a personalized email once you’ve found them.
This can be especially useful if the friend you’re looking for was someone you knew when you were young. You may remember more useful details about his or her family, such as their parents’ jobs or social affiliations.
This could be a work colleague, if the person you’re trying to track down used to work with you, it could be someone in the same religious circle as you, or someone that you went to school with.
Utilize your alumni directory or contact your high school or university. High schools often publish a directory of past students that you can purchase. Most universities or colleges track their alumni as well, and you can contact them for directory information or to find information on reunion events. Access the directory of your fraternity, sorority or service organization to find alumni. If you don’t have access log-in information, contact the national organization, provide your participation information (usually full name, dates you were part of the organization, etc. ), and the organization can provide you with your log-in specifics.
For accessing public records you’ll need to contact the National Center for Health Statistics in the U. S. [14] X Trustworthy Source Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human Services Go to source Otherwise, you’ll need to find your local government’s health agency, which should keep track of those types of records. If you can’t find anything about your friend, it might either be because your friend doesn’t want to be contacted, or they might have died. In that case there isn’t much more you can do to find them. Sites like familysearch[15] X Research source and tributes[16] X Research source can help locate a deceased person or an obituary.
