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page will help you utilize the Internet and other resources
for locating our missing classmates--or anyone else for that
matter. Almost all this information was compiled by our
friends from the class of '73. Thanks to all of you! You're
awesome! If you have any effective search techniques of your
own, please contact Darrin
Plant so we can include your ideas on this page and
pass them on to other Wilson reunion groups.
When you find a
classmate, try to collect all the contact information you can.
We primarily need e-mail addresses, but please get
phone numbers and street addresses if you can. Of
course, all contact information you collect for us will remain
confidential. Now, let's go hunting!
Start with people you know!
By far, the easiest and most productive way to find lost
classmates is to contact people who you know the whereabouts
of, find out who they know, then find out who THEY
know, etc!
Of course, you can also try contacting the parents or
siblings of a missing classmate. Some of our intrepid
searchers have even visited the high school homes of our
former classmates to see if their parents are still living
there!
Internet Search Resources
There are dozens of search engines on the
Internet that will help you track down our classmates. Most
search engine sites (Google,
Yahoo!, Infoseek,
etc.) have their own people-finding resources. You can also
plug the name of a classmate you’re looking for into Google,
for instance, and find out if they have their own Web site.
Here are some other popular sites:
| Anywho.com
- This site is useful if you think the classmate you
are searching for still lives in California, or you
have an idea of what state he or she might have moved
to. |
| Yahoo!
People Search -- A good starting point for a
lot of classmate searches. |
| Four11.com
- Actually Yahoo! People Search. Can look for
phone or e-mail. |
| TheUltimates.com
- combines Yahoo, WhoWhere, IAF (Internet address
finder), Infospace, Bigfoot and Switchboard.com,
Whitepages.com, WhoWhere.com, and AnyWho.
You’ll have to choose between a phone number or
e-mail address search, and press Search for
each search engine, but it's still somewhat of a
"one stop shop." |
| Dogpile.com
– another site that combines multiple search engines
on one screen (Google, Looksmart, Inktomi, Ask Jeeves,
About, Overture, FindWhat, FAST). It also leads you to
many more free and fee search sites. |
| Bigfoot
- Non-specific results. Not very helpful. |
| 555-1212.com
– A group site that costs money |
| WhoWhere.com,
Switchboard.com,
and Whitepages.com
all direct you to US
Search, which costs money. However, US
Search has the advantage of giving ages. When more
than one entry is found for the name you’re seeking,
it’s easy to rule out those who are younger or older
than we are. |
| Infospace.com
– Like US Search, you must specify a state to search
in. |
| DatabaseAmerica.com
– Also costs money. |
| SavvySearch.com
– billed as "A meta-search tool designed to
simultaneously send a single query to all the best
Internet search engines." |
| Intelifinder.com
– There is a charge for using this site, but they
have a 250 name/one week search package for $39.95,
which is much more reasonable than US Search. Other
number of searches/time frame combinations available.
(This is a great new tool…thanks Barbara Cupper!) |
Reunion sites
We are already registered with Classmates.com
and Reunion.com,
and we are sending their members our own reunion information
and reminders. By far, Classmates.com is the most popular
reunion site, and we’d like to see many, many more of you on
our alumni list there. It’s free (unless you get a Gold
Membership), and it’s fun!
Here are some other sites where you can sign up and then
get the word out for us:
Military reunion sites
If you wish to find grads who were members of the armed
forces, try these sites:
Professional association sites
If you know that some of our MIA classmates became doctors,
lawyers, or other professionals, try tracking them down
through their associations. To find a doctor, for
example, you might try the American
Medical Association.
Special search techniques
Classmates who work as Realtors or property appraisers may
have access to computer databases that would be quite suitable
for locating our missing class members.
Classmates who serve as police officers, private
investigators, or even bailbondsmen may have access to equally
useful databases available for law enforcement organizations.
The Class of ‘62, for instance, tracked down one of their
members through a ticket he received for fishing too far
inside Cuban waters! You can also try using the....
- County Registrar of Voters, which lists
registered voters with names, addresses, birth dates and
sometimes phone numbers for free.
- County Assessor’s Office, which maintains
property tax records. You can also search through an
alphabetical listing of properties that includes names and
addresses for free.
Thanks in advance for all your help! We want to have
every available classmate to make it to our reunion in
September!!
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