How do I find a lost person?

July 18, 2013 7:11 PM

My fiancee's mother moved to Puerto Rico a number of years ago, and in a move lost all her mother's contact information. Google hasn't really helped, because her mother has a very common name. I need to find her, and I really don't have a good idea where to start looking.

My fiancee wants to try to rebuild the bridge, but with a name that's very common on the island, her mother doesn't have any kind of internet presence at all - no email, nothing. We don't have the money for a private detective. We do have her mother's parent's names, and she thinks she has a general idea where on Puerto Rico she might be, but nothing more than that.

Can you recommend a resource to find someone? We're stumped, but we're trying. Thank you.

posted by mephron to Human Relations (8 answers total)

I wonder if y'all have already explored this avenue, but perhaps other family members or family friends could help put you in touch with her. Is she part of a community group like a church? Or used to be? That network could also prove helpful in locating her. Good luck!
posted by sums at 7:40 PM on July 18, 2013

I don't live there now, but I'm from PR and I have a lot of family and friends there. If you're comfortable sharing the info you do have, such as a general region, I could see if I can find some resources. Also, I seem to remember pleas like this printed in the letters to the editor section of local papers. The biggest ones are El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora. Please feel free to memail me if you'd like.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 8:32 PM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

When was the last time they were in touch? Maybe you could try to get your fiancee's phone records and find the phone number from them?
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:22 PM on July 18, 2013

Lexus nexus is a more refined search but it costs money.
posted by profiledefenders at 9:37 PM on July 18, 2013

Intelius can help but it will cost you.
posted by TheRaven at 12:33 AM on July 19, 2013

I have an internet co-worker friend who resides in Utuado, Puerto Rico, (sort of in the center of the island).

No promises, but if you memail me a bit of general info, I will run it by her. She may know some resource to point you to. She is fairly well connected in terms of knowing services and such as well as having a good network of friends.
posted by lampshade at 3:22 AM on July 19, 2013

If she's Catholic, you might try approaching your priest to see if he can network with the Church on the island.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:57 AM on July 19, 2013

Intelius, Radaris, and Pipl will return names and locations of everyone with that name in Puerto Rico and US states. What you see for free is first name, last name, middle initial if there is one, plus age and some cities where the person has lived. So even with a common name, you may be able to fairly easily pinpoint the right person, or at least a smaller set, for free.

From there, you pay different prices for varying degrees of more identifying info. e.g., $10 to get a current address.

Lexis Nexis also does this, but subscriptions are almost exclusively licensed only to businesses, and it's price point is very high. Like thousands. If you have a reporter or lawyer friend, they might be willing to do a search for you.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 8:40 AM on July 19, 2013