lost mother.
April 22, 2006 1:00 AM Subscribe
locating a lost relative when you lack important information?
my girlfriend's father never knew his mother. His father kidnapped him and his siblings and moved them out of state when he was very young.
We don't know her name and are not positive on the girlfriend's grandfather's name. He goes by Lou or Jim, but either might not be his real name. Lets assume he wouldn't cooperate with a search :(
Is there any free/easy way of finding her? They don't have the money to hire anyone.
my girlfriend's father never knew his mother. His father kidnapped him and his siblings and moved them out of state when he was very young.
We don't know her name and are not positive on the girlfriend's grandfather's name. He goes by Lou or Jim, but either might not be his real name. Lets assume he wouldn't cooperate with a search :(
Is there any free/easy way of finding her? They don't have the money to hire anyone.
Missing persons reports? Contact the states where she thinks he might be from and ask for descriptions and ages of abducted siblings.
posted by fshgrl at 1:11 AM on April 22, 2006
posted by fshgrl at 1:11 AM on April 22, 2006
I'd start with your girlfriend's father's birth certificate, as they often list the names of the parents. If you don't have a copy of it, you can request it from the vital statistics service in the state that he was born. Then maybe school records or hospital records.
posted by randomstriker at 1:13 AM on April 22, 2006
posted by randomstriker at 1:13 AM on April 22, 2006
The first, most basic question is, do you know where and when he was born? Is his birthday his actual birth date? If you don't know that, everything else gets harder.
In most states, a child does have the right to the birth certificate of his/her parents, so she could make that request. Since his mother didn't abandon him, the record wouldn't be sealed, and the state should issue it to your girlfriend - it'll have her grandmother's name on it.
Good luck!
posted by clarkstonian at 6:15 AM on April 22, 2006
In most states, a child does have the right to the birth certificate of his/her parents, so she could make that request. Since his mother didn't abandon him, the record wouldn't be sealed, and the state should issue it to your girlfriend - it'll have her grandmother's name on it.
Good luck!
posted by clarkstonian at 6:15 AM on April 22, 2006
Presumably her father (or his siblings) have some idea of where they were kidnapped from, i.e. where they were living with their mother? That should tell you where to look for birth certificates. You could also try local hospitals in that location. If it seems possible that his mother went to the police after the kids went missing, you could call up the local police department and ask if there's any way someone could access the records for you. Were they members of a specific church? Checking out the old churches of that denomination in the place they lived with their mother might yield some information-- all you need is one old parishioner with a really long memory. Scandals like missing children tend to dominate local gossip. If it's a small town or area, you could spread that search to the local population in general-- maybe talk to someone at the local or neighborhood paper (they are usually pretty bored, if the area is small enough) and offer them a human interest story.
posted by posadnitsa at 4:37 PM on April 22, 2006
posted by posadnitsa at 4:37 PM on April 22, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 1:01 AM on April 22, 2006