Over time, it can become easy to lose track of one or more relatives not in your immediate family. Even then, an immediate family member may have moved and lost contact with you and others in the group.
For some people, the drifting apart is not that big of a deal. For others, it can be hurtful and even lead to questions.
The most basic question tends to be why did the family drift apart over the years? Was it something in the relationships or a matter of people for better or worse growing apart?
That said has the time come to find that missing relative?
Using the Internet in Your Search
In the event you want to start the process of tracking down a missing relative, where do you turn first? As many people have discovered the last several decades, the web can be a treasure-trove of info.
For many, how to find relatives online is easier with time sitting in front of a computer or using a mobile device. In using the Internet, be sure to use several components of it.
Among the best ones:
- Personal searches – There are sites online that will help you in searching for a relative. By entering a full name and other pertinent details in a search, you could be one step closer to locating them. Although there are no guarantees, your online search could be the key to reuniting.
- Socializing the search – If you have not already thought about using social media in the search, do it. Social sites can be great resources for all kinds of info for individuals and businesses. Whether you opt for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or others, put social media to work for you. Once you enter your relative’s name on a social site, you could very well find them in a short amount of time. Even if you haven’t had contact with them for years, there’s a good chance someone on social media has.
- News sites – While you never want to find a loved one got hurt or did a crime, they may be in the police blog of an online paper. Then again, might they have won an award and appeared in their local paper’s online pages. No matter how they go there, they could have made news and you now have more info with which to work with. If you have a general idea of where they moved to, plug their name into the local newspaper’s online site. You might discover that your relative made headlines for one reason or another. As such, you may be able to better track them down at this point.
In researching individuals over the Internet, you could move closer to reuniting.
Remember, your Internet search may lead you nowhere. Then again, there’s a good chance that you will find something out about the person you are looking for.
That said the individual may no longer be missing in your life once you’ve turned your computer off.
