Tips for Finding Missing People Don't discount searching online if you think the person may be too old to use the Internet, or even too old fashion! Maybe their grandchildren have posted something about them. While the Internet does offer some interesting resources that don't exist in the offline world, many things that you are very familiar can be located and searched in a matter of minutes. Here's our quick list of helpful tips: Start your search by checking several search engines like Google, AltaVista, FAST! and MSN Search. Your next step is to check the phone book for similar names in areas the missing person may be living. A variety of phone books available. Check out our People Finder. If the person may be deceased, check the Social Security Death Index. Several sites provide free access to this immense resource. Put an ad in the local paper, and in the papers in surrounding areas where the missing person may reside. Many newspapers have web sites and accept classified ads. And while you're on there site, if you see a search box, try searching their archives. Make it easier for others to find you! Post any information about the missing individual on relevant message boards like our Long Lost Family Bulletin Board! Consider building your own web page to expose the names of the missing people. You don't have to be a geek to create a simple page. Dozens of services will host it at no charge. If you're looking for multiple individuals, make each person their own. Try subscription based services for locating missing friends and family like Classmates.com and Alumni.Net if you know when/where the person went to school. Or maybe you can find the missing person's children. Women -- use your maiden name instead of your married name when you register yourself with the alumni and message posting services. You can locate private investigators and lawyers as well, but of course they charge to locate missing people. Last but not least, refuse to give up and try some creative problem solving. Don't just search in the obvious places, try sites that relate to any interest the missing individual might have had. Your family recommends... "Find Anyone Fast" There are MANY books out there on finding people and/or getting information on them. "Find anyone fast" is by far one of the most superior. As an experienced investigator it still provides me with invaluable leads and resources! - Alan T. Peto Your family recommends... "Locating Lost Family Members & Friends : Modern Genealogical Research Techniques for Locating the People of Your Past and Present" Trying to find a living or recently deceased person is often more difficult than locating one's Civil War ancestor. A professional genealogist and private investigator, Hinckley uses case studies and illustrations to highlight the wealth of information that can be gleaned from 20th-century records.