Sites for finding lost person?

October 29, 2009 5:41 PM

My family has lost touch with my oldest brother. He is retired and reclusive by nature but we would still like to know where he is living. The last thing we know is that he sold his home in California some time in 2009 and then seems to have disappeared. He may have moved out of the country as I can imagine he wasn't very happy with the Obama election and he had mentioned in the past his desire to move away from the U.S. either to Ireland or Buenos Aires. Can anyone suggest a few good "finder" sites, hopefully free or nominally priced?
posted by Tullyogallaghan to grab bag (8 comments total)

As far as I know, it can be pretty hard to track people down online, especially if they choose to stay off the grid. If it's important to you maybe your family could consider hiring a private investigator.
posted by girlmightlive at 6:14 PM on October 29

Well, Zabasearch seems to have the widest range of content (US based) so I'd give that a shot. You may also try casting your net at Facebook and spock.com and see if that brings up anything... you never know what might appear. If he didn't turn up at any of those sites, I would second a PI since they are granted access to other kinds of databases that you and I aren't. Outside the country is a mystery to me, but I'd start by seeing what people finders are most recommended in Ireland and Argentina. A PI might look for connections he still has with the US, such as forwarding address and bank connections.
posted by crapmatic at 6:25 PM on October 29

What did he retire from? What career. Any information you have will help your search.
Is it possible he is deceased? Check the Social Security Files.
What state, city, etc did he live in? Check the property tax records. Many are online.
Do a search on his name and add the state.
You have to get creative.
I recently found government records for an older brother that served in the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) back in 1940. He has been deceased for 10 years but just keep digging and keep a record of all the clues you know, and where you have searched. Don't give up.
posted by JayRwv at 6:38 PM on October 29

I wouldn't trust online databases unless your brother has a very unusual name. Mine is not very common, but there are still a few listings, and as an experiment, I looked myself up. On one, I'm 60 years old and still living in WA (moved from there in '99). On another, I'm still living in VA (moved from there 2 years ago), and on another, I'm listed as living in KS - one of the few states I've never lived.

Of course, if you keep digging, and with a lot of work, you might find him, but some people don't want to be found. My dad fell of the grid about five years ago and we still don't know where he is (somewhere in the mountains VA I think).
posted by patheral at 7:19 PM on October 29

How old is he?
posted by Jahaza at 7:53 PM on October 29

I find that many searches are not databases, per se. You can find hints or even good information. Of course addresses are old, incorrect and even wrong. The point is that you can perhaps find a state or even a city sometimes. Then you dig into other records in that area. I have researched for over 30 years for relatives and ancestors and it just takes perseverance and not giving up.
posted by JayRwv at 8:25 PM on October 29

At the risk of contributing an unpopular opinion, I propose that if he wanted to be found by you, he would've told you what his plans were.

May I presume he's not mentally unstable of the dangerous kind, or otherwise in some danger? If he still has an electronic life of sort, sending him an e-mail would be accessible from virtually anywhere in the world. The basic request of 'just want to know where you're living - tell us and we'll let you live your life' might be answered.

If he wanted to go 'off the grid' then good luck.
posted by chrisinseoul at 11:31 PM on October 29 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the helpful responses.

He does want to be off the grid (was a Y2K devotee) and keeps everything secret - always used a PO Box, etc. He is almost 80 years old but 'is a Jack La Lanne active type person - hiker, climber, outdoorsman, ex ultra marathoner. I checked some of the national obits and he wasn't among them.

I think he isn't so much rejecting us its just that he is very self focused and I don't believe he has given any thought to us.
posted by Tullyogallaghan at 9:53 AM on October 30