When all else fails it may be time to consider online missing person services...

Can missing person services help you find a loved one? Having somebody close to you go missing is an upsetting and horrible experience. If there is no lawful reason for the police to launch an investigation, or if a case has been abandoned you may feel helpless. You may also just be looking for somebody that you once knew, but have no idea how to track them down. The sad fact is that there are few relevant Missing Person Services available to call upon.

However, before starting your investigations there are several things you can consider, all of which you can do at home by yourself or with the help of a few friends.

If you know where the missing person lived or worked you can put a missing persons advert in a local newspaper or several local shops. If somebody in the area remembers them (if they’ve moved on) then they may have some insight in to where they went. If it is a recent disappearance from your area then putting posters on lampposts can help, although this kind of thing is usually covered by your correspondence with the police and authorities. It may also be a good idea to do this in neighboring regions.

You may also want to try the local phone registry. It’s not a good idea to just phone people on a whim, because it could be alarming to them, but if you check people with the same last name (they may possibly be relatives) or have some knowledge of the missing persons friends then there is no reason why you can’t do this.

With the growth of the Internet there are some things you can do online yourself. It is now safe to say that 80% of the Western population has some kind of profile online, or some online baggage left behind from one time. Whether it be posts on message boards, videos on Youtube or full blown profiles on social networking sites like Myspace there is bound to be some information of the person you are looking for.  Missing person services utilise in-depth techniques for checking these kinds of interactive websites. If this seems too broad there are also localised websites and forums that they may have had some kind of interaction with.

If you were a friend of the missing person you may know their hobbies and interests. If they are for example a big football fan then searching football message boards and interactive sites may turn up more information than just using the major search engines to find them.

The Internet is not only good for searching for missing persons information, but also launching your own campaign. Creating a website with their bio and a photo, then utilising video sharing and social networking sites you can get your message out to a global audience. People can then contact you through the site if they have any information or sightings. Although you may get some exposure for your web page, it may be a good idea to hire a professional to optimise your page and promote it in the most effective places. 

These are just a few methods for finding missing persons and there a lot more methods out there if you think outside of the box. However if your efforts aren't producing significant results then it may be time to consider professional missing person services. Until recently there were very few services available. FastAs will provide a unique online solution for people finding themselves in this situation. FastAs is a pro-active service through which anyone can create and publish a Missing Person ePoster. This will allow users to effectively harness the power of the Internet to reach a global audience.

FastAs - a revolutionary solution to getting in contact. People search our worldwide phone book and email address directory to find your contact details. With FastAs you keep full control of your contact information and tell the world exactly how you want to contacted – with complete protection of your privacy.