How do I locate missing people?
In our connected age, it would seem that trying to locate people would be a snap – pop their name in Google, and you’re all set. However, if you’ve ever tried to do that, you’ll find that the reality is anything but simple.
Pick a name at random and see for yourself the inherent problems with trying to locate people with Google or Bing. I picked a name at random – Jack Maple – and tried Google to see what came up. As is surprisingly often the case when trying to locate people, there happened to be a famous person named Jack Maple and information about him occupied the majority of the information and sites that Google delivered (see below):
Beyond these results, there are a couple of odd results for non-historical Jack Maples, but there’s not a lot of information to go on – certainly nothing that would help you to locate people you’re looking for if you ran a similar search.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself that social media – Facebook, in particular – might also be a great resource to find people, generally, you’d be right. However, many people are sensitive to this fact and are increasingly making their information more private. Facebook itself has even begun to acknowledge their users increasing desire for privacy by adding encryption to certain features – making efforts to locate people that much more difficult. Plus, you still run into the same issue of finding the correct person, especially for people with the same name. And, of course, not everyone has Facebook – or any other form of social media – so trying to locate people this way can also be a dead end.
Though regular search engine and social media searches can be limited, certain types of information about people are a matter of public record and – while the type and volume of this information varies by state – current addresses, phone numbers and even criminal convictions are generally recorded somewhere.
Getting access to this information – or even knowing where to start – can be challenging, especially for someone who has been missing for a long time. That’s when people finder websites – which aggregate virtually all available public data information – can come in handy. All you need is a name and a last known state to get started. You can free search results that give you an age and other identifying information to ensure you’ve got the right person. In fact, you can even start a people search for free below:
Through our partnership with PeopleFinders.com, you'll receive Industry-Leading data by combining over 43 Billion Verified Public Records giving you the most comprehensive Background, Criminal, People, Marriage and Divorce Checks available Online. We receive income from our partnerships.
People finder websites specialize in helping to both locate people and to uncover other valuable points of information about the person you’re searching for. Basic location information at a people finder website starts at as little as $0.95 with comprehensive background checks that include relatives, associates and criminal records starting at around $40 $10. So, when you absolutely have to locate someone and have exhausted your options – a people finder website is often money well spent.
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