Lots of other resources (most of which work the same)

PeopleFind.com has a link to Family Finder (http://www.familyfinder.com/). This resource is an index with links to many other people-finding Web sites. It also has links to sites for such topics as geneaology, finding a gravesite, and obtaining a birth certificate.

I clicked on their link for "Find a Person." This then had a link for free people-finding tools. This brought up a long list of sites, including the ones I already mentioned in the blog. Most of them worked similarly to the ones I found. The free information consisted of the person's last known city and state, their age, and possible relatives.

However, to get more in-depth information such as their street address, phone number, marital status, criminal record, and bankruptcies/tax liens, you had to pay a fee. For most of the sites, the fees were about the same--approximately $40-$50 for a fairly complete background check, with an additional $10-$20 for more in-depth information. Many of the sites also offered a record of just addresses and phone numbers for about $10 and a 24-hour pass to search certain databases for anyone for about $20. These sites all brought up basically the same information for Jennifer as the ones I already mentioned in the blog.

There were a few sites that were somewhat different, however:

DEX (http://www.dexonline.com/): This site basically an online phone book, with yellow pages, white pages, and government pages. It will bring up the street address and phone number of the person you're searching for for free--as long as they are listed in the phone book. I searched for Jennifer, Dex did not find her. The only search term you have to enter is the person's last name or at least their last initial. You can also enter their first name or initial, and as much of their address as you know.

Dex also has a reverse phone finder, where you enter the phone number. If it is a home phone number, it will give you the name and address of the person who is listed for that number. If it is a cell phone, it will tell you the town and state the cell phone number is registered and what wireless company it belongs to.

Public Database (www.publicdatabase.com): This site claims to have the most vast database of public records available online, from birth certificates to death certificates and everything in between. It claims to even find medical records, which I would think would be illegal under HIPAA guidelines. Other information the company claims to locate includes, to name a few, adoption information (which I also would think would be illegal), social security number search (again, not illegal?), immigration records, e-mail addresses, and grave-site location.

However, you cannot do any search for free on this site. You have to pay $34.95 for a standard two-year membership that lets you do 15 premium searches and $39.95 for a two-year membership that lets you do 25 premium searches. I am not sure what a premium search consists of. I clicked on their FAQ link to find out, but it was not working.

The site claims that they employ "expert searchers," but that they are not private investigators.

You have to be at least 18 years old to use the site. Another rule I thought was interesting is that you cannot belong to any local, state, or federal law enforcement agency to use the site.

Reunion.com: This site is similar to Classmates.com, except that it is for anyone wishing to reunite with someone, rather than just classmates. Just as on Classmates.com, you have to pay a small monthly fee in order to send and receive messages through the site. Reunion.com will send a message to your e-mail address alerting you when someone is trying to locate you or when it has found someone you are trying to locate. As on Classmates.com it will not reveal your personal e-mail address.