Find a Current Address for Someone
Have you ever wondered what happened to old what's-his-name, that friend from high school you lost touch with when he moved to California? Thanks to the Internet, finding that missing person can be easy — if you know where to look.
Contents
Steps
Find an Address with Google
- Google them. Of all the ways you can find somebody, Google is probably the easiest. But searching for them requires a little more effort than searching just for their name.
- For example, we'll use Dave Wilson, who was the drummer for the Cascades back in the 60s. In the Google Search field, we'll enter just "Dave Wilson," with quotes. Using quotes forces the search to use both words in order, so we don't get results that include "Dave Whickershnaker loves to play volleyball but only uses the Wilson brand."
- As we can see right away, there's going to have to be some narrowing of the choices. Google returned almost 900,000 results!
- Refine your search. We'll do this by adding a key association that is unique to Dave Wilson — his band, the Cascades. This time we find what we're looking for.
- We now know what happened to Dave Wilson — he passed away in 2000.
- Use deeper search tools. Sometimes the easy way turns up nothing. The person you are looking for may have changed their name, may have gone "off the grid," or may have passed away before leaving their mark. When that happens, there are alternatives.
- Google "people search," and you will be presented with a list of sites that will help you find who you are looking for, many of them advertising free searches.
- Be aware that "free" often means they will get you part of the way there—and then you pay for the actual contact information.
Find an Address with Other Sites
- Find them on Facebook. With nearly '1 billion' subscribers to Facebook, your chances of finding somebody who is still with us is pretty good—and a little harder than going the Google route.
- Start by searching for their name. This time, let's search for John Smith. In the search field, type in John Smith, and immediately a menu will populate with the top results.
- Facebook is clever enough to highlight people in your location, and whether or not you friends in common. But we know John Smith doesn't live here, so we need to expand our search a bit. Either click on the magnifying glass on the right of the search field, or at the bottom of the menu, select "See more results for John Smith." This takes you to a more comprehensive search page.
- Start by searching for their name. This time, let's search for John Smith. In the search field, type in John Smith, and immediately a menu will populate with the top results.
- Don't forget to use Facebook's search filters! If the generic search didn't do it, dig a little deeper. From here on our quest for John, we can narrow things down considerably using the sites tools on the left side of the screen. Clicking on the Pages filter, we find the John Smith we're looking for — it appears he has a band and lives in England.
- Go professional. On occasion, the person you are searching for will be unlisted. In this case, you can go to a public records information site, and pay for the information you want. A good example is Intelius.
- Professional sites will usually offer one-time fees for either simple contact information or a background report—ideal if you are searching for history on a potential employee or business associate.
- The price and quality of people search services can vary greatly. U.S. Search and Intellius are the top rated services, but as with any online services, your experience may vary depending on what and who you are looking for. Check the tips for ways to narrow down the choices.
- Look in the virtual white pages. You know that one book that used to come to your doorstep or that you could get at the supermarket that was white and yellow and full of really tiny type? The one with all the information on your neighbors and local shops? That's a phone book. Now it can be found online!
- Whitepages.com has a plethora of search tools. You can do reverse phone and reverse address searches, too. If you fill in the most basic of information, they'll give you everything they know.
Find an Address by Alternative Means
- Contact a mutual friend. Alright, so maybe your target is one of those folks that is heavily anti-social networking and prides himself on having a non-existent Google results number. What do you do then?
- Rack your brain. Who do you know that might have a lead? Did you both hang out with Edwin your sophomore year of college every Wednesday for pints and pizza? Maybe he knows where John is! You might have to hit up an old friend you haven't spoken to in years, but the effort could pay off.
- Trace them down yourself. So you can't seem to think of any mutual friends that know the whereabouts of your mystery person. Now you may have to do the dirty work. This works best if your target has stayed reasonably local.
- Think of the last place you knew they lived, worked, and frequented. If the government can track and find people, you might as well give it a shot! See if you can stumble across someone who knew them by recreating their steps. They may be able to point you in the right direction.
- Hire a Private Investigator. Alright, so this one may be a tad much, but if you have money to burn, why not? A PI can do all the dirty work for you while you sit back and enjoy not sifting through Google result after Google result.
- A PI can have a hefty fee and some people may not be too thrilled that they're being stalked by someone who you paid to do so. This option is only legitimate in the most extreme of cases.
Tips
- If you're looking for an old classmate, try Classmates.com or Reunion.com, where you can search by graduation year.
- For comparative reviews of people-search companies, visit TopTenReviews.com.
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