I love locating people

One of things we do is locate people... but it's not what you think. We don't locate long lost relatives or bf/gf. We locate people for lawyers who want to find clients they lost contact with or people they want to sue.

So one of the things we do is enter their names and personal identifiers into databases to try to see if we can find their most current address. We also try to find relatives and neighbors who might know where they are.

So there's this guy "A" who we're trying to look for. We find an address for him, but we don't know if it's an old address. I find the phone number for his neighbor in the apartment next door. I talk to the neighbor (who is a very, very nice person). She was really sweet and my age! I knew how old she was because it tells you people's birthdays. She was born in the same month and year! She's just 2 weeks older than me. Anyway, I told her how I was trying to reach "A" and that I think he is her neighbor. She said she knows the people who live in that apartment, but she doesn't know their names. I said this guy should be X years old and she says that sounds about right. She knocks on their door and no answer. I ask her if she could write a note for him, telling him that if his name is "A" to call me back. She writes it on a Post-It and puts it on the door.

Hours later, the phone rings and we have Caller ID on the phone. The name that shows up is "A." I answer and he says that someone left a note on his door to call and I explain that a lawyer is looking for him. He got really defensive and is also nervous as to why someone is looking for him. I tell him I have no idea (I sort of do, but I play dumb) why the lawyer is looking for him and that we are just a 3rd party hired to reach people. I give him the lawyer's name and number and tell him that she should be able to answer all his questions. He was really scared and also mad, asking me what I was doing leaving notes on people's door in X city (not a great city to live in), saying that it was dangerous there and I could get shot, blah blah blah. And I'm like, "I didn't leave the note on your door. I didn't go to your apartment." And he's like, "Well somebody from your place did." I didn't let him know that it was his neighbor. He wouldn't give me his phone number, but I had his phone number on the Caller ID anyway. Turns out, it was his cell phone number (I did a phone number search and it came up as a cell number).

Anyway, that was a lot of fun.

Next locate, trying to find this girl and guy in a car accident who used to be boyfriend and girlfriend! The lawyer is trying to find them, but has lost contact. She thinks the ex-boyfriend abused the girlfriend, which is why the girl's parents won't tell us where she is now because they're scared the ex-boyfriend will find her. I found their MySpaces online, but they haven't been on in awhile. The guy seems like a total jerk/dick from what I'm reading form his MySpace. I might have to go to the address we found in the database though and see if he's living there. Yes! I'm excited about meeting this dick! I found his parents living in NC, but the dad said he hadn't heard from his son since July and his son has no job, no cell phone, etc. Doesn't sound like a great relationship, huh?

MySpace helped me find this one mom a few weeks ago. We could not find her at all! I went to the last address the lawyers had for her and it turned out to be a motel! I went to the office of the motel and they said that room #26 does not exist anymore; the motel was renovated over a year ago, which tells me that this girl had lived at the motel more than a year ago. Anyway, we had names of her relatives and I found out her brother's name. I found the brother on MySpace and messaged him, telling him how I was looking for his sister. He called and talked to my boss, told my boss the best way to reach his sister is through their mom and the mom worked at a preschool. In turn, we called and left messages at the preschool, but no luck. Finally, I had to go to the preschool myself (which is in an urban area) and talk to her. She was happy to see me and told me she told her daughter that we were looking for her, excited that the car accident case might be settled (her grandson, the girl's son, was hit by a car). They're very poor and have been moving in and out of friends' houses and in and out of motels. They were currently living in a motel and the girl works from 7 pm to 3 am so she didn't have time to call us. However, the mom told us that she would tell her daughter to call us as soon as she could. Finally, the daughter called a week later to tell me that life has been tough and she lost custody of her kids for awhile, and all these bad things. I felt so bad for her! I told her to call the lawyer when she could.

Anyway, I hope to find that ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend, wherever they are.