Finding someone you once knew years ago is much easier than ever before due to the Internet. There are several ways to look for old acquaintances which include hiring professional help or taking advantage of the technology associated with the World Wide Web. The odds of finding the person you’re looking for today is much higher than just a few years ago even if you live in different states.

Look for and talk to family members of the person you are searching for. If family members are not available, talk to mutual friends to find out if they have kept in touch with the person and if they can provide you with any information about the person’s whereabouts.

Use the phonebook to look for the phone number and address of the person or place an ad in the classified section of the local newspaper in the area of their last known location.

Use social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to look up information on a person. You may be able to find their profile and establish a connection this way or find a family member or friend that can provide you with information at one of these sites.

Use alumni sites designed to locate people who went to the same high school or college you attended.

Do a Google search to see if you can locate them. Use their full name and last known location to help narrow your search.

Gather together all of the information you found on the person and use a “people search” site to locate them. Information needed is the person’s full name, old addresses, age, old phone numbers, relatives, aliases, maiden name and married name if you’re searching for a female.

Use genealogy sites that provide marriage and divorce records to look for relevant information about the person.

Hire an investigator or some other professional service to help you find the person you knew years ago if other methods do not get the results you are looking for.