Tracing lost loved ones can be a traumatic experience for family members. It can also be a time to reevaluate how we deal with loss and cope with the pain of missing someone.
Start by searching for them in the newspaper obituaries and calling places they frequented, including work associates, social clubs/centers and unions. You can also contact their most recent and former employers to locate any assets they may have in a safe deposit box.
Search Their Home
Although it can be emotionally taxing when trying to locate a long lost relative, it’s usually well worth the effort. After all, they can add to your family’s history and connect broken branches of the family tree.
Start by searching your loved one’s home. Make sure to check for any paperwork, such as birth certificates, insurance documents, and safe deposit boxes. Also, don’t forget to search their computers and email accounts for any relevant information.
You can also contact their old friends, colleagues, and social clubs to see if anyone has seen or heard from them. It’s important to ring them up by phone rather than sending a letter, as these may be put aside and forgotten or the person could be hesitant to open their mail.
Lastly, it’s important to check local news archives and websites for any updates that may help you locate your loved one. This is especially true if they died in a strange way, like from a rare disease or were murdered, as these stories are often covered by local news outlets.
Obituary databases are another helpful tool that can be accessed online through sites such as TruthFinder. They contain valuable information, including the deceased’s final resting place and other family members. Additionally, it’s a good idea to search the names of deceased relatives in census records and city directories for clues about their whereabouts.
Search Their Social Media Accounts
One of the best ways to find a loved one online is by searching their social media accounts. If they have a blog or website that they update regularly, this will provide you with valuable information about them and their whereabouts. If they have an Instagram or Facebook account, you can also use a people search engine to determine whether they have other accounts associated with that profile.
Most platforms allow users to either memorialize an account or completely close it after death. It is important to consult with your family members to see what they feel the deceased would prefer. Memorializing an account will prevent it from appearing in ads and will not send friends birthday reminders. However, this will not prevent their family and friends from being able to access their content or messages.
Many families decide to memorialize a loved one’s account rather than deleting it. LinkedIn, for example, will remove a profile if the deceased person’s immediate family or executor of their estate contacts them with proof of death.
One group in particular has been using old-fashioned snooping skills on the platform to help reunite families who have been separated by adoption or other circumstances. Their work has helped reconnect thousands of individuals and has become a worldwide phenomenon. The power of social media and the internet is truly incredible.
Search Their Online Accounts
People do more and more of their banking and social media management online, so when they die, it can be difficult to get access to those accounts. Each company has its own policies, and some have specific procedures for granting access after death. The best way to prevent this is to talk with your loved ones about their online accounts, and make a list of them with usernames and passwords. Store that in a secure place, and inform those who should know of its location.
When a person dies, many of their bank accounts are left to gain interest while being distributed through probate court. This can be very helpful, as it can ensure that every penny is received by the appropriate party. The state treasurer’s office will often have records of unclaimed property, which include bank accounts. There are also online search tools that can help you find any bank accounts that a deceased person had.
Remember to be kind and patient while you are searching for assets, as this can be an emotional process. It may take a long time to locate all of their assets, and they might not always be found. If you have tried everything you can and still cannot find your loved one, it might be time to call in an investigator.
Contact the Police
If you have tried everything else and are concerned about a loved one’s safety or welfare, it may be time to contact law enforcement. This should be a last resort, however, and you need to make sure that you have truly exhausted all other options before breaching their trust by involving police officers.
Depending on the person’s circumstances, this could involve placing an Amber or Silver alert. It can also involve contacting hospitals, schools, and other places of interest. These places may be able to provide clues to the location of the missing individual.
Other avenues to explore include obituary databases. These can be particularly helpful if the missing person died in a more unusual way, such as a sudden cardiac event or from a rare illness.
You can also try contacting local news media outlets, such as television stations and newspapers. They may be willing to spread the word about your search for a missing friend or relative.
If the person is a citizen of another country, consider reaching out to international aid organisations that offer family-tracing and reunification services following natural disasters or during times of armed conflict. If the person is in a country where a large-scale disaster has occurred, these organisations may have far more pressing priorities and will need to work quickly to find the person.