Being estranged from a family member can be difficult. After all, family is an important part of life, and not being able to access those relationships can make you sad or even stressed. It can be even harder if you two became estranged after a difficult incident.
Not having closure, or regret over how you handled the situation, may leave you with guilt and frustration. The good news is that the modern era has provided plenty of tools that can help you find estranged relatives and try to fix whatever caused you to drift apart. To find estranged relatives, you can look for them via:
-Social Media
-Web Search
-People Search
Social Media
Since so many people use them these days, social media channels can be a great way to try to find relatives and reach out to them. Assuming the person you’re looking for has a social media profile, all you have to do is type in a name to get a list of users that have that name. Then, it’s just a matter of finding the right user.
If you know your relative went to a certain school or worked at a certain company, that could make things even easier. Schools and businesses can create Facebook pages that individuals can link to when creating their profile and adding-in past life events. Check the people who’ve connected with those organizations to see if you can find your relative.
You may also be able to find him or her by looking through other family members or people who were once mutual friends. They may still be in touch with one another, even if you aren’t. This approach can be more difficult because the network can be so large. People on social media sites often have hundreds of friends listed, and going through every one of them can be time-consuming. However, if you have the time, it may be worth it.
If you were ever in contact with your estranged relative through email, try emailing again. (It’s a good idea to spend a bit of time on composing this email, because estrangement isn’t easily repaired, no matter how good your intentions are.)
Of course, there’s always the possibility that the person no longer uses that email address, has deleted the address, or has blocked your emails entirely. If you send an email and don’t get a response, consider performing an email lookup to see if you can find a more current email address or other contact information for that person.
Web Search
A simple search for your relative on Google or some other search engine could be another good place to start. If the person’s name is relatively unique, performing a search this way could yield results fairly quickly.
On the other hand, you may have to sift through several search results pages until you find the information you want about your long-lost relative. To try and avoid that, you may also need to input some other identifying information about him or her, such as the city where they may live, the name of a spouse, etc.
People Search
Public records can be a rich resource if you’re looking for an estranged relative’s location or contact information. But going through public records has traditionally been difficult and time-consuming, and may even be expensive, as some states charge a “copying fee” for documents.
When it comes to finding contact information for people in the shortest possible time, a dedicated people search could be your best option. With an online people search engine, you have the opportunity to get the information you need about a relative quickly and easily.
All you need to start is a first name and a last name. You don’t even have to know where the person lives right now. You can input the city and state of where the relative used to live when you were still in contact, and you may still get results. With just a few clicks, you may also get other necessary contact info, such as a current address, phone numbers, and other people who are in your relative’s life.
Conclusion
Although living without estranged relatives can be difficult, it’s not the end of the road. You can always try to get back in contact. And you may even be able to repair the relationship, so that you’re able to move on together. By trying one or more of the search options above, you can make your first move toward reconciliation.
Find even more information about how to contact those with whom you’ve lost touch by checking out the PeopleFinders blog.
Image attribution: Photo by Branislav Nenin – www.shutterstock.com
