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Mike 03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:41 PM
Original message
Suggestions for ways to find out how to contact friends you have lost touch with, even a long
Edited on Wed Jan-07-09 09:42 PM by Mike 03
time ago?

I've googled them and so forth, and was unable to find anything. But I don't have much time to waste now. Any good idea about how to contact friends from the past??


Sorry, this is Cross posted, just in case anyone has any ideas.
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AZBlue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:42 PM
Response to Original message
1. Have you tried Facebook?
I've recently found friends from 25 years ago on Facebook.
MySpace might be another way.
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htuttle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:04 PM
Response to Reply #1
11. Yup, Facebook, myspace and linkedin are probably the best bets
I've recently found a number of old high school friends from 25+ years ago through all three of those.

One of them had the temerity to send me some old 'garage band' photos from back in the day, too. I used to have all sorts of hair back then... damn. :(

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AZBlue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-08-09 11:25 PM
Response to Reply #11
22. Ha! I was just thinking of posting some old photos this weekend!
But then again, I'm in them too. In those clothes with that hair.
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Tangerine LaBamba Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:42 PM
Response to Original message
2. Mutual friends?
Call your old local newspaper.

I've had the opposite problem - people from my past finding me because I write books.

Good luck.
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Mike 03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:54 PM
Response to Reply #2
8. That sounds like a good problem.
Congratulations to you for writing and getting published.

That is awesome.
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NV Whino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:44 PM
Response to Original message
3. Post an announcement on any board you belong to
that you are looking for "whomever." There's always somebody who knows somebody who knows whom you are looking for.

Go back to town of origin and make phone calls to long time residents.
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Drum Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:44 PM
Response to Original message
4. facebook
www.facebook.com

They have a variety of friend searches, classmates searches, &tc....

:)
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tpsbmam Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:46 PM
Response to Original message
5. Google them again and if you haven't, click on those fool
Edited on Wed Jan-07-09 09:47 PM by tpsbmam
peoplefinder type links. They'll want to charge you for tracking them down BUT on some of them they'll at least tell you what state/city they have for the most current address. You can then Google them and add the locale -- I found a friend that way. Also try sites like classmates.com and, if you went to school with them, try alumni sites.

Edited to add that the first plan will also give you additional names, including ones you can guess might be a spouse. Try googling under that name, too. And once you have a location, look in the online white pages for addresses/phone numbers.
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Muttocracy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:55 PM
Response to Reply #5
20. second that suggestion
I had sent an email to a friend on my Google mail asking for another friend's address. In the ads (which I had never really noticed before) there was a link to one of those services. I was intrigued and clicked around and did some searches. Never paid for any of them, but lots of info there for free. I was horrified to see that one could figure out my current and previous residences, and the names of all my family members quite easily. Sounds like a tool for identity theft given how many people use "mother's maiden name" for security codes.
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Sanity Claws Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:46 PM
Response to Original message
6. Where do you know them from?
If they were classmates, try classmates.com. Some universities may help you find them too.
Are they licensed in any profession? If so, the state in which they are licensed should have contact information for them.
Also try the online networking sites, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo.
If you can't find the people directly, go about it indirectly, by using the above techniques to locate a close friend or relative of the person you are looking for.
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Mike 03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:56 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. High school and then University. We even had the same classes together. NT.
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Muttocracy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:52 PM
Response to Reply #9
19. Alumni association of the college could have leads? nt
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LoveMyCali Donating Member (694 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:51 PM
Response to Original message
7. I recently
had a friend from college contact me through facebook. It had been 26 years since I last heard from him. (Yikes, I'm getting old)
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Mike 03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 09:57 PM
Response to Original message
10. I apologize. It's irrational and unrealistic to hope to make contact with somone so many
Edited on Wed Jan-07-09 09:58 PM by Mike 03
years after the fact.

I love you all, and I LOVE DU.


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Sanity Claws Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:05 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. No it's not.
A friend from high school contacted me through classmates.com last month. That caused me then to look for and find another high school friend whom I had not seen in 27 years. (She is a licensed professional and I was able to find her through Google.) Both contacts were wonderfully positive and I'm glad I'm back in touch with them.
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Mike 03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:07 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. That sounds wonderful. I wish I could achieve something like that too.
Thank you for sharing that.

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Mike 03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:09 PM
Response to Original message
14. There is one person I need/want to talk to, or apologize too, and I can't reach her.
I know it's nutty, but it is bothering me a lot. Maybe I'm being a stupid fool.

It is just haunting me. I wish I could talk to her.
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Mike 03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:11 PM
Response to Original message
15. My friends at DU, I love you more than I can say. I will
be away for a bit.

My heart goes out to you, more than you could ever know.
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MsTryska Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:12 PM
Response to Original message
16. definitely facebook.
my ex from 15 years ago found me there.
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jberryhill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:23 PM
Response to Original message
17. zabasearch /nt
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spartan61 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-09 10:26 PM
Response to Original message
18. I chaired my high school reunion and started looking for classmates
two years before the reunion. I had the best luck locating people by using zabasearch.com. Besides giving addresses and phone numbers (if the number is published), it also gives the birth year. This info helps if there are several people with the same name and you know the approximate age of the person for whoom you are looking. Zaba Search also lists those who are not the primary name on the phone bill. I could search for a name and then cross check it with the spouse's name to get an accurate address or phone number. Good luck with your search.
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MagickMuffin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-08-09 08:14 AM
Response to Original message
21. Someone posted this in another thread and I found a lot of lost friends using it
Edited on Thu Jan-08-09 08:19 AM by MagickMuffin
http://pipl.com/


edit: title

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