I am trying to use the internet to find someone I've lost touch with
... I have a complete (maiden) name, birthdate, and last known city of
residence and employer ... going on "Google" gives me over 77,000
possibles - too many to sort through ... ideas??

Hi there,

Obviously searching for someone by their maiden name has a major
problem - if they have married then their surname has most probably
changed. Here are your best options...


Google
------
Unless your Google search was for an extremely common name, I figure
your search keywords were like this:

Jane Bloggs

...which will find every web page that contain those two words
regardless of how far apart they might be. I suggest searches like the
following, remembering to enclose them quotes:

"Jane Bloggs"
"J Bloggs"
"Bloggs Jane"
"Bloggs J"


BirthDate
---------
This is your best chance. AnyBirthday Plus allows searches based on a
first name and date of birth. It is a tool I always used first if
someone was adopted, or has probably married. A one year subscription
is $29. There data isn't terribly recent, but their sister-site
LocateMe is never more than 3 months out-of-date

AnyBirthDay Plus
http://anybirthday.com/plusinfo.htm

LocateMe
http://www.locateme.com


Last Known Employer
-------------------
Have you contacted them? Perhaps they know where she is now.


Last Known City of Residence
----------------------------
If it was a year or more ago since she lived at her last known
address, there are a few databases you can search for free, before
paying to find her contact details. If she moved recently, their
information might not be up-to-date (Intelis has a date along side
their results - the others often use the same data).

US Search
http://www.ussearch.com/wlcs/index.jsp

Dogpile People Search
http://www.people-finders.ws/Processor.asp?site=8&from=1016

Intelius
http://find.intelius.com/search-name.php?searchform=name


Otherwise
---------
You could try using a people finding service that isn't automated like
those above. Abika are good:

Abika
http://www.abika.com

...or hire a private investigator:

NAIS 
http://www.pimall.com/nais/dir.menu.html 
 
FindaPI 
http://www.detectiveagents.com/findapi.htm 
 
Google Directory 
http://directory.google.com/Top/Business/Business_Services/Security/Investigation/Investigators/United_States/
 


I have experience in this area, and while we are not allowed to
provide specific information on private individuals here, I am more
than happy to help you with anything else that might enable you to
find the person (just ask for a clarification)

Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

Don't forget about Classmates! If you knew where they went to school,
then http://www.classmates.com might be a good bet.

- Entropix