How to Locate a Person in Michigan

It's easy to lose touch with a friend. Your lives get busy, especially after high school and college, and one unreturned phone call quickly turns into three. If you'd like to find an old friend or classmate in Michigan, you can try looking for him by searching the residential listings in a local phone book or using an online people-search Web site, such as Intelius or Yahoo! People Search. If these don't yield results, though, you may have to dig a bit more deeply to find him or her.

• 1

  Make a list of all the information you remember about your friend. Include his or her name, last known address, the name of his high school or college and the years he graduated, his college major, the names of his parents or siblings, date of birth and anything else that you can remember. If the person for whom you're looking isn't a friend but rather a business associate or some other acquaintance, write down the last phone number, e-mail address, physical address and any other contact information you have.

• 2

  Call the high school or college that the person attended. Most schools keep records of past students on file, and they update them as reunions are scheduled. Ask to speak to a reunion coordinator or alumni affairs director to see if they have any current contact information for your friend. The University of Michigan has an online database of all current students, staff and faculty that you can search if your friend may be in graduate school or a university employee. Most colleges and universities have such databases on their Web sites.

• 3

  Search for your friend on social networking sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace or Twitter. In addition to searching by his name, you can look for your friend using the names of the schools he attended and graduation years, his employers' names, his e-mail address and other information on Facebook. Many social networking sites also have groups related to schools, college majors and employers to which your friend might belong. If he doesn't, you can still post a message to ask a member of the group if they know him. Someone might see your message and be able to point you in the right direction.

• 4

  Look for him in Michigan state or county court records. If he's sued someone or been sued, gotten married or divorced, or been a party to any legal action in the state, you can obtain a copy of any related public records. Contact the county or state courthouse nearest to where he last lived, worked or attended school to start your search. The courthouse's clerks can help you conduct your search using microfilm records, paper copies or computer databases, depending on what is available.