Can anyone help me locate Heath Heatley in Great Britain?

February 4, 2004 5:28 PM

Can some kind MeFite in England help me locate a long-lost friend? [more inside]

His name is Heath Heatley, and he attended Oxford Brookes University from about '88 to '92 or '93. He was originally from the north of England (Liverpool area) and he emailed me over a year ago after ten year silence a few days before my hard drive burst into a molten mass (I'm sure he wasn't the cause). I know he's completed recently his PhD, and he is working (perhaps teaching) at a University somewhere in Great Britain (I think near Leeds but probably not). I've been desperately trying to find a way to get back in touch with him, since I'm sure he thinks that he emailed me and I just ignored him! My email address is in my profile, since this is, I'm sure, the kind of thing that is best resolved via private mail.

Please, ask MeFi, help me .... you're my last, desperate hope.

posted by anastasiav to Human Relations (10 answers total)

192.com didn't yield anything.
posted by nthdegx at 7:16 PM on February 4, 2004

It's probably too late now, but you might have been able to get your ISP to retrieve his email address out of their server logs.
posted by reverendX at 7:42 PM on February 4, 2004

Have you tried contacting the Oxford Brookes alumni relations office? Their email addresses and phone numbers are here.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:53 PM on February 4, 2004

Try signing up with Friends Reunited as if you were at his university during that year. You can ask other students if they have details for him.
posted by skylar at 1:39 AM on February 5, 2004

Do you know what subject his PhD was in? What department of a university he's likely to be working in? I'm surprised that he doesn't have any kind of mention on a website somewhere if he's working in academia. I've used a UK academic article database and can't find anything in that name, is Heath his given name? (I ask as there's an MK Heatley at Sheffield medical school, which is near to Leeds)

Academics (especially with unusual names) are usually incredibly easy to find. If you fail this time you should definitely try again in 12 months. He will almost be certain to come up on google.
posted by biffa at 1:42 AM on February 5, 2004

ditto biffa's comments - if you can't find an academic with an odd name on the net you've probably got the name spelt wrong.
posted by andrew cooke at 3:30 AM on February 5, 2004

Also, I checked friends reunited: no H Heatley
posted by biffa at 3:36 AM on February 5, 2004

Is his name actually Heath Heatley? Isn't it possible that Heath is a nickname and that the surname is Heathley? So it could be John Heathley for all we know. Or maybe I'm just clutching at straws.
posted by skylar at 10:26 AM on February 5, 2004

Response by poster: First - thanks for all the suggestions and special thanks to everyone who took time to do a look up of some sort (fruitless though it might have been).

Oxford Brookes was the first place I tried, all they have for him is outdated contact info (a flat in Headingdon; a dead end) (I understand - I'm hiding from my alumni assoc also). Yes, his name is really Heath Heatley -- I've seen his passport. (I suppose he could have changed it, but I find that unlikley.)

I don't know specifically what subject his PhD was in, but its something scientific-related ... when he wrote me last he was working at a University Lab and had just finished his PhD - but in what capacity I don't know. He was also involved with OTC (?? is that right -- the English version of ROTC, in any case ??) while at Oxford Brookes.

Thank you again!!
posted by anastasiav at 2:21 PM on February 5, 2004

If he's just done a PhD in the Uk then it's highly likely that he's had some form of funding. I would suggest trying the Economic and Social Research Council but as a social scientist / lawyer I'm not aware of any of the more science focused bodies - anyone else got suggestions?
posted by dmt at 8:16 PM on February 7, 2004