Public Records and various resources / Looking for someone (1 Viewer)

Long story short, I lost touch with a friend of mine several years ago. With my reluctant participation in social networking sites like Facebook, I've begun to seek out certain individuals from my past, that I would like to check in on. I've tried to find this friend of mine, and haven't had much luck. Sadly, the only thing I found via Google is a reference to a parole hearing in Idaho. Name/state fits, but uncertain it is really him.

So I guess my question is, is there a way to find out more, i.e. public records? Ideally, without having to subscribe to any service, as my hunt is more casual than necessary. My place of work may have a Lexis/Nexis subscription, but not sure if I will have the means to use it.

Appreciate any advice.
R

I would suggest considering looking at things like facebook and classmates.com (assuming you know where this person went to school). Just because you join a site like facebook doesn't mean you have to participate nor include any information you don't want. Both sites have helped me reconnect with people I thought I'd never see again. And facebook is great for finding friends through sort of a six degrees of separation thing. You might find someone who knew that person on facebook, look at their friends' list (most seem to allow you to see their friends) and find other related people and possibly find this person. You can always abandon or cancel the account/s.

Facebook.
I was able to get a hold of someone I haven't seen in nearly 30 years.
found me first there actually.

What's the aversion to facebook, it can be set up to whhatever way you want it to work for you.
Plus it's free, Classmate .com charges fees for simple stuff that can be done on facebook.

In addition to facebook, I have found old work friends through LinkedIn, which is more of the employer networking and less "social". If you post your resume there and work/education experience, LinkedIn spiders can refer you to people who also have the same work history or education history as you.. Though since nobody really posts their elementary school, might not be as effective but you never know...

jay

There are services like Intellius which offer one time purchase of reports for a reasonable price, rather than subscription, though I would also recommend using Facebook as well.