Long Lost Family

7 Ways to Find Relatives and Reconnect

Do you have a long lost family member or a relative that you wish to meet or reconnect with?

Whatever the reason for reading these tips, you may be scared of what consequences your action can cause.

There are some people who claim that they don’t want to hear from long lost family or a family member in order to preserve the peace of the current family life. It may appear that way, but the concern about the whole situation doesn’t stop at that point.

It is important to fulfill the void in one’s life because what follows then is the potential of recapturing a new life together, healing old wounds, and perhaps finally forgiving and moving on.

Usually, there is a short period of getting used to it on both sides. Don’t be afraid of the reactions that your quest can cause, because neither party knows what they will think after a while.

Here are 7 ways families can begin the process for reconnecting with your long lost relative or loved one if you have no current connections with them:

1. The social network

The most common way to start your search for a lost relative is to use easily accessible social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, MySpace, and LinkedIn. Start with something like this: “Looking for …“ or: “Does anyone know …“ There are also pages within social networks that are used specifically for looking for long lost relatives.

2. Missing relatives discussion boards

The same day you start the quest on Facebook and other social networks, leave your message on some of the online discussion boards, bulletin boards, and even forums and ads.

3. Ask your extended family

If anyone knows the details about when or where that person disappeared, or some physical characteristics, that helps a lot when you choose a place of your investigation or you need to identify a Facebook profile before sending any messages.

4. Yellow pages

If you know where the person last lived, check out the online version of the yellow pages for the town that they lived in.

5. Other databases

You can browse some databases online or to go to the specified place and search birth, death and marriage registries, according to where that person had lived in the certain period.

6. Family tracing services

This is a popular way to track long lost relatives. There are a great variety of services that you can find online as well. \

7. DNA search

A DNA repository will help with checking your DNA against their database to find ancestors or other relatives that you may be related to. This may also be helpful to those who are adopted and seeking out their ancestry line.

With all the tools that the 21st century offers, it’s amazing how much easier it has become to locate someone and be able to re-connect with them after years of no contact. More and more people are joining online social platforms and connecting with old classmates, colleagues, and friends.

SeniorAdvisor.com Staff

Senior Advisor's knowledgeable writers blog about senior care services, trends and more.