How to Locate Family Members
Whether you are planning a family reunion or simply trying to find your favorite cousin from childhood, locating family members can be exciting. Connecting for the first time or reconnecting with family members is a tangible way to learn more about your family history. Although finding missing family members can be time-consuming and tedious, it can also be extremely rewarding.
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Instructions
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Ask your aunt if she remembers where her niece last lived. Inquire if your father knows where his uncle resided and if his children stayed there after he died. Find out if one of your cousins has the address to the great-uncle you used to go visit every summer. Listen carefully to the stories about family members and see if you can glean clues about locations of other relations. The clues to find missing relatives may be found with the relatives with whom you still have contact.
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Search birth and death records to try to locate relatives. These records can be found in your state's Vital Records Office or equivalent department. Use property records to discover if relatives still live where they once did. County offices will have these records for you to review. Check the phone book for people with names that are similar to your missing relative. Contact these people and see if they are related to you.
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Do a name search on Google, Yahoo!, MSN or another Internet search engine for your relative. Search names on Facebook, MySpace or another social networking website. Contact people with names that match your relative's and inquire if you are related.
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Set up a website that is dedicated to finding the missing members of your family. List any known information about these relatives such as names, birth dates, number of children, grandparents' names, etc. Give an email address or phone number that can serve as a point of contact when the missing relative realizes that he or she is being sought.
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Run an ad in the local newspaper as well as newspapers in surrounding areas. Other relatives or acquaintances of the person being sought may see the ad and help you locate the missing relative. Place ads in the newspapers where the missing relative was last known to live. Include your email address in the ad so that your relative can contact you.
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