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Finding People For Free With Help From The U.S. Post Office
Finding People Free Post Office Search
Some of our more experienced investigators at OmniTrace (we mean our old guys! 
) were finding people and lost birth family members long before the Internet was around. They used some great, free people finding resources that are now, unfortunately, very much overlooked and underused.
The United States Post Office is one of the best resources for finding people for free. In many instances, when beginning your people search, you will have an old address of the person you are trying to find. This old address might be:
- The old address of your best friend’s parents when you were in high school together.
- The old address of a friend you used to keep in touch with by regular mail.
- The old address where your birth mother resided when you were given up for adoption.
- The old address of the adopting parents before your child was given up for adoption.
- The address of a debtor from where they once made scheduled payments.
- The address that a prospective date gave you while out at a club.
- The address provided to you by an old military buddy when your military service was completed.
Are we overdoing our examples? Are you catching our drift here? Okay we are moving on now! 
When you send a letter to an old address and it comes back undeliverable, that’s where your people finding adventure really begins. So, make sure you take the important step of sending a letter to any old address you have on the subject before you move on to other people finding methods–no matter how old the address might be!
[Please note: One reason we instruct you to send a letter, no matter how old the address might be, is that your letter may be received by someone currently at the address who knows the subject (e.g., the current resident may have purchased the property from the subject or they may have been a former neighbor or they might be a relative).]
Before sending your letter, make sure you write “Address Service Requested” on the outside of the envelope. That way, the post office will forward your letter if a forwarding address exists. The post office will also send you the new address.
(You should place the “Address Service Requested” directly underneath your return address or to the left of the postage stamp or underneath the postage stamp.) So many choices! 
If your letter is returned by the post office, there might not have been a forwarding address or the forwarding address was simply too old and no longer on record.
The post office will typically let you know the reason your letter wasn’t forwarded (you’ll find this on the outside of the returned envelope). Some undeliverable messages you might receive are: “Attempted, Not Known” or “Moved, Left No Address.” These simply mean that no forwarding address was left by the subject.
You might receive a message such as: “Refused.” This just means that your letter was refused by the current resident.
You might receive a messages such as: “Insufficient Address, or “No Such Street,” or “No Such Street Number.” In these instances, try calling directory assistance (please read our post: Find People With Directory Assistance) and ask for an address verification. Or, call the post office in the town where you sent your letter and ask for assistance. Perhaps a street has been renamed or a number for a particular address has changed. Also, a postal carrier may know the current and prior residents of a particular address and provide you valuable people finding information (such as when the subject moved or employement information on the subject).
Finally, if the address where you are mailing is a Post Office Box, the postmaster will provide you with the physical address of the renter of the box if it is used for business purposes.
We hope this post gives you some insight on how the United States Post Office can be a great resource for finding people for free.
Please write us if you have any questions!
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i am trying to find an old friend yvonne davis last known address is on west barry ave in chicago illinois she has a son elijah davis, she is about 53 and her son is about late.
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Hello my husband is searching for his father whom he has never met. We want to let him know that he has 4 granchildren. His fathers name is Cedric Anthony Hinkson the last address that we could find on the net is 854 Davis St., Gainesville, Ga. We believe that he is 56yrs old. We are not sure if he has siblings or other children Thank you
Be Blessed,
Shannon Ellis..<
If you have not found the person you are looking for, try this.
These are relatives listed
Kim A
Jan
Michelle S
Yvette E – 26 Anne Ln,Central Islip,NY 11722
No phone was listed
Hi Shannon. We are working on your search right now. Don’t go away.
Hi Shannon. We believe we have found your husband’s father! We will send you our search results right now via email.
Best regards,
Dana
OmniTrace Corp.
Hello,
I am very thankful for your information me and my husband are in the processes of calling numbers. I will let you know what we find again THANKS!
That’s great Shannon. If you develop any new leads for us to follow, please let us know.
Best regards,
Dana
THANK, THANK, THANK YOU!!!!!! You found my husbands father. We talked with his dads sister and found out that my husband has 5 sisters!!! WOW!! Thank you so much you were truly a blessing to this family.
Hi, im trying to find my birth parents,originally they are from the Virgin Islands but moved to the states in the early 80’s. Birth mother name is Lillian Anthony she married a man my father named Calvin Anthony. My mothers maiden name Manners. All that i kno before they moved from U.S.V.I they lived in Puerto Rico also and resided in Manhattan Ny, Thats where i was born in Beth Israel. From what i know my mothers b-day is 10/11/59 im not sure too much about my birth dad but that he was a militant. Please any info would help i really appreciate it Thanks!!
My name is Kyle and I’m trying to locate a long lost friend of mine.
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Appx age is 48-50.
I’m trying to find my brother that was adopted out in 1962 i cant afford an investigator. so Ive been trying web sights for help. maybe someone will see this and say well i know this person and contact me. his name is Rocky Camilleri. his adopted mothers family told us he lived in New York. some where around Staten Island. i have never met him or he has never met any of his sisters and brothers.we would love to meet him and get to know him. please any info. would be greatly appreciated. by the way my name is Patricia. thank you Pat
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I am trying to locate my sons father. His last known address was in Oklahoma City, Ok. I don’t have a street address but he’s in a nursing home I’m told . His name is Fred M Cowlishaw..
Thanks so much,
Karen Pagel
Hope this helps
Relatives:
Evelyn – Denair,CA
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Hello. I’m currently looking for my birth mother. But I dont really know a lot about her. Her name is Maritza Rodriguez. She should be around 47 or 48 year old. That I know of she has 3 other daughters named Kathy, Christina, and carmen. The last thing I knew about my other was that she was living in Reading, PA. Please if anyone can help me find her that would be great!
necesito ayuda para encontrar a mi madre y mis dos hermanas no se de ellas hace 19 años su ultima direccion fue en los angeles cal.etiwanda apto.105 receda cal.91335 se caso con alejandro castro, ellas se llaman mi madre olga estela torres morales, maria micaela torres y teresa de jesus torres, yo vivo en guatemala les agradeceria si alguien puede informarme sobre ellas gracias
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HELP!!!!! Kind Regards
Christine
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Im trying to find a man who own this house 1516 Snapfinger Rd Decatur, ga 30032 his name is Isill Andrews I looking to get in contact with him to buy his house
Hi Adrienne. We conducted a free search for “Isill Andrews.” Unfortunately, there is no one in the USA with that name.
Best regards,
Dana Betz
http://www.omnitrace.com
i have been searching for my boyfriends mother for months i can not find anything about her i know her first middle and last name. i know her old address and i know her birthdate. will you please help me find her! Her name Latia C. Davis, old address is 12910 Rexwood Ave. Garfield Hts., her birthdate is Oct. 6th 1970. and age is about 39
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Hi i am Looking for my birth mom her name is Kelleye M. Longwood. we got seperated at birtjh and know that i am 18 i really want to look for her. she is 47 years old and her D.O.B. is July 18, 1962. Thank you Please E-Mail me if you have anyhting.