Resources for Finding Missing Classmates
Partial List of Resources for Locating Missing Classmates
Scroll to the end for a summary of LINKS.
If you know of any other resources, please let us know.
This Page has been clipped from a forum, and I've added a few that I've found. Things change, so if you run across any dead links, please let us know.
The SSDI (Social Security Death Index) part of this one is free and it's always current within a week or two:
NOTE: A significant change to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was enacted in March 2014. New entries to publicly available versions of the SSDI will not be available for three years beginning on the date of an individual's death.
http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3693
Genealogybank.com gives searchable access to every newspaper article published in our hometown newspaper. It has been fantastic for locating classmates, obituaries, and seeing engagement/marriage notices for female classmates so you know their last names. Obituaries for parents of classmates list the surviving kids, our classmates, and where they live. This is especially helpful for finding female classmates who may have married --- you find their married name and where they live in one sentence. Not every newspaper is included in the genealogybank.com list of newspapers, so be sure to see if your hometown newspaper is included before you sign up.
And this one lets you narrow down the dates or guess at the last name:
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi No longer working, but if you find a replacement, let us know.
We check this one for obits; free if recent:
http://www.legacy.com/ns/obitfinder/obituary-search.aspx?landing=1
Google alerts will do regular searches for any phrases and let you know when something pops up. We have it searching for "graduated from [high school]" and "graduate of [high school]" to catch other recent obits: http://www.google.com/alerts
Also when using
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
Don't forget your hometown library. By searching local newspaper archives we located dates and full obituaries for most. Often, by locating notices about family members who remained in town, we found classmate married names and locations for those that moved away.
Check with the County Clerk's office in your county seat to search through marriage records (to locate married names of missing female class members.) Make a note of the town where the groom was from -- it will help later to search for that surname on whitepages.com in the groom's city and state. You might run across a sibling or other relative who knows the whereabouts of the couple.
Search through the County Clerk's death records to locate dates and causes of deaths. Then with the date of death you can search the microfilm records of the local newspaper to find obituaries.
Of course to be found in the County Clerk's records, the marriage or death must have occurred within the county. findagrave.com
America’s deaths and obituaries. It is available through libraries that have premium resources. If you find the library has it available, get a library card and you can search from home. I had to get mine from a larger city library that is 1 1/2 hours away. So you might have to do some searching to see what library has it available. It will have to be in the state you live to get the card. But well worth the search. I also use Reference USA through the library to find lost classmates.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 8:48 AM - Response #1
Thanks for the list. I also found this "Free" site the most helpful. It is best to use the "FamilySearch2" search engine.
Not sure what the FamilySearch2 is, possibly? https://familysearch.org/blog/en/familysearch-introduces-search-features/
http://www.stevemorse.org/ssdi/ssdi.html?engine=https%3A//www.familysearch.org/search/records/index
Friday, March 6, 2015 at 6:15 PM - Response #2
I like using obituaries.com to find those who have passed it is also a free site.
Saturday, March 7, 2015 at 9:56 AM - Response #3
In the past I have used usa-people-search.com, intelius.com and zabasearch.com but only the free search part of these. whitepages.com is sometimes helpful if usa-people-search or intelius give you a hint at state or town. obits.com has been good to find parents of classmates where the obit sometimes states the names and locations of children, but it is not free. If you find a "hit" that looks promising you can look at it for either a one-time fee or a monthly fee. What I did was sign up for the monthly fee (around $20) when I started searching so that I could do all the searching I wanted, then cancelled it at the end of 30 days.
The other thing I did was to look at yearbooks from my high school for the six years before and after my year, for siblings of classmates. Especially where the missing classmate is a woman, it is sometimes easier to locate a brother and make contact. Of our 486 classmates I have 11 that I have not found (but still looking!), and I have assisted five other classes in finding their classmates, and a class from another school. It's a challenge and takes lots of time and patience! Good luck!
Summary of All Links Mentioned Above:
Resource List for Locating Missing Classmates
http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ssdi/
And this one lets you narrow down the dates or guess at the last name:
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
We check this one for obits; free if recent:
http://www.legacy.com/ns/obitfinder/obituary-search.aspx?landing=1
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
America’s deaths and obituaries. It is available through libraries that have premium resources.
SSI Death Index
http://www.deathindexes.com/ssdi.html
I also found this "Free" site the most helpful. It is best to use the "FamilySearch2" search engine.
Not sure what the FamilySearch2 is, possibly? https://familysearch.org/blog/en/familysearch-introduces-search-features/
http://www.stevemorse.org/ssdi/ssdi.html?engine=https%3A//www.familysearch.org/search/records/index
obituaries.com to find those who have passed it is also a free site.
obits.com [Link was dead as of 9-30-2015] has been good to find parents of classmates where the obit sometimes states the names and locations of children, but it is not free.
zabasearch.com but only the free search part of these.
whitepages.com is sometimes helpful if usa-people-search or intelius give you a hint at state or town.
peoplesmart.com Peoplesmart.com gives the name, location, and if someone has passed away, the year of passing.
If you know of any other resources, please let us know.