How to Find a Lost Relative

Have you tried Facebook? Look him up on there, see if he has a profile. If his name is unique enough, you can find him without knowing where he is. Or if you have friends in common, you might be able to find him that way.

If you do find an address or email address or other way to contact him, I suggest you just say that you miss him and maybe you're sorry and that's it. I tend to talk too much and put people off in a situation like this. Good luck!

Before you look for a site that costs you money, try www.zabasearch.com.

One of my friends introduced me to this website. She even found someone for me that another relative needed to contact in order to find out if they were biologically related!

I haven't looked for anyone lately but I'd definitely try that before shelling out any money.

I applaud you for trying to build a relationship with your brother. I think a letter explaining what you've explained above would be appropriate. At least you will have been able to say what you need to. You can only control your action of taking the first step to rebuilding. You can't control his response. But know that you are doing a good thing. Praying for you in this endeavor.

start with google, then facebook, then ancestry.com - all these sites are legit.
use all names and nicknames he may use

then you can put ads in local newspapers where you think he is - then national papers.

but if someone does not want to be found - they wont be.

i hope you have luck finding him

Thought I can't attest to the quality or honesty of online sites I can recommend going through a private investigator from his last known area. Usually a fast call to any attorney in the area can put you in touch with a good investigator. That's what they do for a living is find people. I and my husband did this for some years.

K., I agree with the other 2 posts. Use the internet. Use the people search websites. These sites will not help if he does not use his real name or does not have any utilities in his name.
Be very aware that there are con-artists out there. I lost $600 to a well-known people finding organization. I actually got the name off of the Dr. Phil Show. They charged me $600 to refer me to an attorney. Gee thanks, I could have done that myself for free!!
Best wishes to you and I hope that the outcome is happy. Sometimes time and distance makes a difference and also maturing!

I wouldn't pay anyone to find him. Search online, as other people have already suggested. Two of my siblings found me that way completely independent of each other. One found me on google. The other found me through facebook. I've had success finding people for others, you are welcome to contact me if you want help.

good luck!

www.thosecrazybeans.blogspot.com

I would add on to the google sites and such, if you know his occupation, type that in the search engine as well. It may narrow down the field. Like...say he was a dentist, you could put "John Smith" "Dentist" in the search engine. If he went to a university, sometimes there is an alumni page with updates about previous grads. Or the department itself might know. I was a music major and I know the music department at the university I went to has updates with who is where, doing what, on the music department page. Or if he was ever involved in community groups or hobby groups, you might find him that way. Just google several different ways with different combinations of info you know about him and see what comes up. Good luck!

Do you know his social security number by any chance? If you do, a professional can find him very easy, and you may be able to yourself as well. If not, it may be more difficult.

This may seem silly, but 20 years ago, my mother called Unsolved Mysteries (the television show) and they found her father for her, who she hadn't seen in over 40 years. She wasn't on the TV show, but it didn't cost her anything. I have seen advertisements for a new TV show that reunites relatives, it may be worth contacting them. If nothing else they may be able to give you some pointers.

Lastly, I would google yourself and make sure that if he is trying to contact you that he can find your information.

Good Luck,
D.

I would check online first, all the free websites like: yahoo people finder, switchboard.com; whitepages.com; and I'd try googling his name in and see what comes up. I've had luck with those websites when I'm trying to find people. Also, I'd look on myspace, facebook, and classmates.com. Not to be morbid or anything, but if he passed away, I'd check the Social Security Index or Rootsweb.com.

Just some thoughts. I hope you find your brother:)

Best of luck,

M.

if you have a SSN for him you can pay for a search to find him. I think you can find websites that offer this service for $15 with ease. You can also do the search without the SSN but it will take longer.