How to Find Almost Anyone, Anywhere

A private investigator outlines legal methods for locating missing family members, birthparents, long lost friends, heirs, and deadbeat dads, and uses examples from her own experience to offer tips on how to approach individual searches

Private Investigator Norma Tillman has found more than 1,000 missing persons in her career, a result of her diligence, ingenuity, and insight into where to look. True, perseverance can't be taught, but it can be encouraged. Tillman is motivational in her belief that you can accomplish your goal, and the case histories of her successes are quite inspirational. The book is structured by types of searches, with one chapter devoted to finding your father, another to looking for your mother, and a third on adoption. There's a chapter on brothers and sisters, a chapter on best friends and first loves, and another on seeking individuals in the military, plus a chapter on tracking down people who owe you money, and a section on tracing your family tree.

There are a few basic chapters on how to gather information, and repetition and example finally drive the point home: it's not a matter of doing A, B, and then C, but more a pattern of following every lead till you hit the one that pays off. Of course, a good list of resources helps considerably, and the reference section is worth the cost of the book itself, with 50 pages of organizations, agencies, phone numbers, and addresses (street and Internet) to inform your quest. Tillman encourages you to read all the chapters, not just because she wrote them, but because she's teaching a procedure and a mindset as much as a particular type of search. Her premise is that if you strongly desire to find someone, and are willing to put the time and effort into it, it is highly likely that you will be successful in your endeavor. --Stephanie Gold