i am tring to find my dad and i need some ideas, we met once a few years back and things did not go like i thought. i want to try again but now i cant find him. it took me 5 years of looking last time. i know his name and where he might live, i went into a site that you enter a name and it pulls up all the phone listings that match that name and i started to call one at a time,nothing. unless you are going through this it is so hard to just start calling people getting your hopes up and hitting dead ends. has anyone else tried to find someone and found them? how did you do it?

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), August 29, 2000

Answers

My kid found me by contacting people who knew people who knew people who might know me. If you know anyone who has known your dad who might know someone else who might know his wherabouts, call them. Also, if you know where he is, if it's not a big city, call the police or anyone at a company or agency who might know a lot of people in that area. Just contact as many people as you can who might be able to help. Good luck.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), August 29, 2000.

1-800-USSEARCH . They do it for a nominal fee. I think they have a website also same name tel # with .com

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), August 29, 2000.

I used the Net to search for a "lost" classmate. I finally found him living in Phoenix, but could not get an address or telephone number for him without paying for it from some list. I talked to his niece on the telephone and asked that my name and address, and those of my other classmates be given to him in hopes that he would be willing to contact one of us. Since she didn't know who I was I didn't feel that I could push for her to give me his contact information. To this date he has apparently chosen not to make contact with any of us.

I used many different search engines and found quite a few "hits" on my friend. He is an author, and has also written into Mother Jones magazine.

I suggest that you use http://www.switchboard.com and http://www.555-1212.com for the usual people locators. They seem to be good ones. Also try http://www.webcrawler.com and all of the usual search engines. Lycos is a good one, but try them all.

Since you have a possible location, check to see if the city has a published city directory, such as those by R.L. Polk. You might need to check with the local public library to find this out. Doubt that they would provide you with an individuals information, but you still might ask.

Switchboard and others have bulletin boards for posting information on those that you are looking for.

Does your father belong to a professional organization? You might check with them.

If you know your father's social security number, I understand that you can send a letter addressed to him under seperate cover to the social security office, and that they will send the letter along, but will not reveal information to you. That way any contact is up to your father.

I wish you well in your quest to find your father.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), August 29, 2000.

In my genealogy research I have had good luck with the white pages directories in AOL, www.ancestry.com and www.whowhere.com. Of course, it helps if they have an unusual name.

-- Ken S. in TN (scharabo@aol.com), August 29, 2000.

Renee,Hi.I pray you are able to find him.What a sad situation. Good "luck", ~~~Tracy~~~

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), August 29, 2000.

Renee ive had good luck with the utilites cos. good luck Bob in s.e.ks.

-- Bob Condry (bobco@hit.net), August 29, 2000.

I find infospace.com helpful. If you get a lot of hits try sending a letter to each person, you could write one letter and mail copies to each peson with the same name. Many county Property apprasiers offices have their files online and you might find help there.

-- Mark (deadgoatman@webtv.net), August 29, 2000.

If you know your dad's date of birth, you can go to www.ancestry.com and perhaps use their Social Security Death Index to determine if he is even still alive. Most people pay into SS sometime in their life. I've used this in my genealogy searching since it also provides date of death and where the last payment was sent to. I could then get a copy of their death certificate from the state capital. Old ones showed parents, origin, and how the informant for the information was related.

Other than that, try several different on-line white pages directories. My brother and his family don't show up in AOL or www.ancestry.com, but do in www.whowhere.com.

-- Ken S. in TN (scharabo@aol.com), August 30, 2000.

Does your dad work at a specific occupation or type of work? Or perhaps he is a union member?

With a name, occupation and last known city it becomes a small world indeed.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), August 31, 2000.