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"If there is one way in which the information revolution has truly
impacted upon our lives, it is the ability it has given us to track down
people who, not so long ago, would have been considered beyond contact"
(spokesperson for 192.com who was interviewed
for this article.)
"In many missing- person cases, I now find that the clients could
probably have done the job themselves using the internet... While the
deductive experience of a professional investigator plays a key part in
solving the trickier briefs, the wealth of readily available information
about individuals that is flooding the web makes it a very powerful
tool". (an independent social worker
specialising in tracing lost family members who was interviewed for this
article)
Where to start searching:
Start with a basic search of the web to see if you can find any details of
the person that you seek, for example, name, address, telephone. Then see if
you can discover snippets of information that will give you clues about their
activities, interests and hopefully build up a profile of the person. Here
are some websites to start with:
www.bt.com - search the directory enquiries
www.royalmail.co.uk - to check the full UK postal address
www.infospace.com - people finder service, check for name, address and
telephone
www.proviser.com - to find out property values of the postal area, (helps to
start build a profile of the person you are seeking)
www.companieshouse.org.uk - there is a searchable database of directors
www.friendreunited.co.uk - lists alumni from, every school and university in
the UK
www.classmates.com - similar to friendsreunited.co.uk, only for the US.
www.ex-forces-network.org.uk specialises in connecting former
comrades-in-arms
www.servicepals.com - UK Armed Forces friend finder
www.missing-you.net provides a messaging service for people seeking lost ones
www.rootsweb.com - provides a facility to search family trees.
www.genuki.org.uk - genealogy search
www.origins.net - genealogy search
www.mesa.rrzn.uni-hannover.de - email address finder
groups.google.com - search newsgroups, especially subjects of interest to the
person
Specialist "people finder" websites
You may also wish to search websites specialising in finding lost people:
192.com is a website providing special search tools for finding
people, businesses, services and products, for example, 192.com combines a
search on the electoral roll, various telephone directories and business
directories.
People Tracer, a competitor to 192.com, also offers special online
services whereby people can trace lost ones. There is even a section on adoption,
where people can search for adopters, birth relatives and adoptees. Use of
these websites is available to anyone and has been the means of reuniting
many people who have lost contact.
Success Story
Here is an example of a success story using 192.com, which was included in
the Web-Sleuth article:
"Collins sat down with the scant information he already had and began
using the free People Finder at 192.com. An initial search for the relevant
name revealed a plethora of options, but applying some simple deductions
based on his knowledge of the target's social and professional habits reduced
that choice to three strong contenders. Half an hour and two calls later,
[his] father was found."
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