If you wanted to reconnect with someone

[Gypsy]

from middle school, or high school or even college...

BUT they had a pretty common name (think Jane Smith) and you had NO IDEA where they went or what they did after high school (or even college), what would you do?

How would you find them? If you just wanted to make sure they were okay, and happy (ish).

 

[Haven]

I''m interested to hear what people have to say, too! I had a very close friend in college with a very common name, and I tried to find her on Facebook to no avail. Sorry I''m no help!

 

[neatfreak]

Alumni office of the college maybe? Or I would call his/her parents if I knew where they lived...this works especially well for HS friends.

 

[Skippy123]

Sometimes on the high school website there is alumni info (ops ditto NF). I know that is how many of my friends from hs reconnected. Sending you luck!

 

[fieryred33143]

I have a really common name (especially in NY/Miami). I had signed up for classmates.com and put very limited information. A friend from elementary school that moved away when we were in 3rd grade had also signed up for classmates and found where I went to school. Then he went on the school''s directory and found my email address. Out of the blue I got an email from him. It was awesome. He sent me all kinds of pictures of his kids and wife. Such a great moment to catch up with him (I even gave him my mom''s # so that his mom could call my mom LOL).

Have you guys tried classmates? A lot of people had signed up for it at one point (they spam the heck out of emails) and now it isn''t as popular since you have to pay.

Also use "Stalkbook". You can find a friend with a pretty unique name and work backwards. Sometimes it works.

 

[beau13]

Date: 4/6/2009 5:36:30 PM
Author: fieryred33143
I have a really common name (especially in NY/Miami). I had signed up for classmates.com and put very limited information. A friend from elementary school that moved away when we were in 3rd grade had also signed up for classmates and found where I went to school. Then he went on the school''s directory and found my email address. Out of the blue I got an email from him. It was awesome. He sent me all kinds of pictures of his kids and wife. Such a great moment to catch up with him (I even gave him my mom''s # so that his mom could call my mom LOL).

Have you guys tried classmates? A lot of people had signed up for it at one point (they spam the heck out of emails) and now it isn''t as popular since you have to pay.

Also use ''Stalkbook''. You can find a friend with a pretty unique name and work backwards. Sometimes it works.

That''s funny..I''ve never heard Facebook referred to by that name before. I have to agree however..weirdo''s who suddenly want to be your friend, based on a photo they seen of you (likely from a group you belong to on FB). Strange!! You "ignore" their request, and they continue to send friend requests .

 

[soocool]

I have recently reconnected with a bunch of my old friends from grammar school, high school, and college. Sometimes I use classmates.com to see if anyone has registered and if so it will give me their married name (for female friends) so I can go from there. reunion.com was another site that I could type their name and find the places they have lived and get relative names and then do google searches or phonebook searches.

I only found a couple of these people on Facebook and only through the alumni sites for my school. Sometimes I can find one person who can update me about another person.

I found my best friend from high school, believe it or not, from the obituaries. Her father had passed away last year and I was able to leave a message on the Legacy site. It lets the reader contact you if they wish and she was so happy to hear from me. We haven''t been in touch for the past 25 years and now we talk with each other several times a week and have gotten togethe a couple of times even though we live almost 100 miles from one another. I am still searching for one more of my very good friends.

 

[bebe]

not knowing where they might be is tough when their name is so very common.
''
have you tried pipl.com ? (thanks, Lauren)

 

[Gypsy]

I think I may have found them (their middle name is not common).

But is it worth 40 bucks?

http://www.ussearch.com/consumer/index.jsp


I tried their HS site, didn''t work.

 

[somegirl932]

I think someone mentioned this, but sometimes finding a mutual friend with a unique name is easier. I''ve definitely done this using Facebook and looking through a friend''s friends.

Sometimes creative Google searches work too... try their name in quotes with any bit of information you know about them? Even stuff like where they grew up... "Jane Smith, originally from SmallTown, now works for..." etc.

Good luck!

 

[soocool]

Date: 4/6/2009 7:33:55 PM
Author: bebe
not knowing where they might be is tough when their name is so very common.
''
have you tried pipl.com ? (thanks, Lauren)

bebe: thanks for the site. I found 2 people I have been looking for last night.

 

[bebe]

Date: 4/7/2009 11:43:09 AM
Author: soocool

Date: 4/6/2009 7:33:55 PM
Author: bebe
not knowing where they might be is tough when their name is so very common.
''
have you tried pipl.com ? (thanks, Lauren)

bebe: thanks for the site. I found 2 people I have been looking for last night.

it can be good and it can be scary. For some there is only a line or two, for others, way too much info for my comfort.

 

[kindred]

Date: 4/6/2009 7:58:42 PM
Author: Gypsy
I think I may have found them (their middle name is not common).


But is it worth 40 bucks?


http://www.ussearch.com/consumer/index.jsp



I tried their HS site, didn''t work.

I spent the money on another site to get an old friend''s info. It turns out the address is out of date and they did not leave a forwarding address.

 

[DiamondFlame]

uhh...pay a private investigator? cue Ben Stiller in Something About Mary...LOL.

 

[KatM]

Date: 4/7/2009 11:46:21 AM
Author: bebe

Date: 4/7/2009 11:43:09 AM
Author: soocool

Date: 4/6/2009 7:33:55 PM
Author: bebe
not knowing where they might be is tough when their name is so very common.
''
have you tried pipl.com ? (thanks, Lauren)

bebe: thanks for the site. I found 2 people I have been looking for last night.

it can be good and it can be scary. For some there is only a line or two, for others, way too much info for my comfort.

seriously. that site can be dangerous.

i second the idea of first locating someone with a more unusual name, and then contacting them to see if they have any more info.

 

[FrekeChild]

I''m sorry Gypsy. I shall try again later?

 

[Gypsy]

No honey. This thread pre-dates your attempts to search.... which turned up more than I thought they would.

Given this person''s name, how hard they are to locate, and the results of the searches when we added their family member''s names...the biblical passages , I really am taking this as a sign to just stop looking. Sometimes you aren''t meant to re-connect with folks and you can only wish them the best.

Thank you all for the great ideas. Freke and I did try (thank you very much, again, Freke honey), but to no avail.