Whether it’s someone you have simply lost contact with, or a relative that you have never actually met, bidding to find said person can be a tough task. With few leads, it’s usually down to some self-detective work and suffice to say, this is easier said than done.
While there are never any promises in relation to finding a long, lost relative, there are some steps that you can follow in a bid to make your job all the more easier. We have detailed the following suggestions to now help you along your way.
Turn to a people search engine
Previously, this would not have been possible. Now, free people searches by Checkpeopleis something that a lot of people turn to and suffice to say, finding a long lost relative is the optimum use of such a service.
To explain, this isn’t an alternative to Facebook – it’s a lot more complex than that. Instead, this compiles public records through history and allows you to effectively search through them in a bid to find your person of interest. The major benefit over the likes of Facebook is that the person doesn’t have to have a Facebook account, and they don’t even have to be alive. As such, it’s a much more open-ended option and if you are looking for fast results, it’s arguably the best bet.
Facebook still serves a purpose
Following on from the above, it would be unfair to suggest that Facebook is no longer worthwhile as you bid to track down someone. Sure, it has its weaknesses when compared to the likes of a people search engine, but let’s not forget that it still has that all-too-familiar interface which means that most of us know how to use it in an instant.
Additionally, through the mutual friends feature and so on, it becomes very easy to find people providing you have some sort of lead to go off.
In summary, Facebook isn’t the best solution for this, but in a lot of cases it can still work very well.
Search through family trees
Family trees might not be talked about in the same way in which they once were, but there are still plenty around and family historians tend to upload them to various portals which can be searched easily. Suffice to say, if you can find a family tree, it might give you a few extra leads to go off. You may even have to start searching for other people, through the above services we mentioned, in a bid to find your person of interest.
DIY research
Failing all of the above, there is always DIY research. This involves searching through paper copies and visiting the likes of libraries and churches to find original documents. This is a laborious task to say the least, but it might be your only option if you have already taken to the internet and can’t find what you are looking for.