So you’ve had a busy day at Walmart, and you’re now ready to spoil your family with all the goodies you got. But as you see your car in the parking lot, your golden mood turns to brown. Something is clearly wrong.
For one, your car used to be a white Honda Civic. But now its got a red gash running across the front passenger side door. Worse, the door has a huge dent in it! Some jerk in another car swiped you and fled the scene!
But you’re in luck. As you curse and cry at the sky, a bystander tells you she saw the guy who did it. She says his name is “Spencer.” Spencer is a local hot shot attorney who occasionally hangs out at the bar by Walmart. He is a notorious braggart and an obnoxious know it all. Nobody likes him and they’d finger him in a second. But he pays for his drinks in cash, so no one knows his last name, where he lives or even where he works.
All the witness can tell you is that he’s a whippersnapper in his mid to late twenties. She’s not sure if Spencer wears glasses, but she’d know his face if she saw him again.
So armed with this meager description, can you really find
Spencer de JERK?
You bet. Yes. Believe it or not, within the hour you will have his full name, address and photo, just like that!
Here’s how.
First, let’s review what we know. Spencer is a licensed professional (an attorney). He’s local to Metro Atlanta (where the bar and Walmart are) and he’s under 30. He also has a nice red car probably with some white paint on it. You can find him regardless of what his car looks like. But it’s good to know these things when you sue him in small claims court, and also when you report him to the police for leaving the scene of the accident.
Approach To Finding Spencer Or Any Licensed Professional
- Find a comprehensive occupational directory that will list every member of the profession by first name and admittance date, or by age, or by school graduation date.
- Weed out the false leads (based on age, gender, geography…)
- Get their photo.
So first we need an inclusive professional directory that lists all Georgia lawyers, not just the ones who pay for a listing. While Martindale Hubbell is a useful second choice, it doesn’t list all GA lawyers. But the GA State Bar Directory does! And it allows you to filter by first name, last name, state of practice, company, city or law school. Too bad we don’t know his law school. But we do know his age and that he is local to GA.
Like many professional directories, the GA Bar lists when they were admitted/when they graduated law school. This is mighty useful to weed out the false leads. False leads include those lawyers too old, dead, or too young to be our Mr. No Goodnik.
But first we must figure out the time period when Spencer became a lawyer.
Lawyers spend 4 years in undergrad and 3 years in law school. So the earliest the average lawyer graduates is at 24-25. This means if we’re looking for a lawyer under 30, we can discount anyone who became a lawyer before 2014.
THE SEARCH FOR ALL GA ATTORNEYS NAMED SPENCER
So I searched by first name only, and limited my search to GA attorneys that are currently practicing in GA and not in other states.
Results
52 Spencers came up in a first name search with no other restrictions.
35 Spencers are licensed in GA and still practicing in GA verses in another state.
Only 13 Spencers had Spencer as their first name. (22 of the 35 had “Spencer” as a middle name (some of these were women).
Only 6 Spencers were admitted on or after 2014.
Only 4 Spencers were listed in the Metro Altanta Area.
So now we have 4 suspects with full names, middle names and practice location along with the law school they graduated from. This is more than you need to Google them. But it gets better. For these directories may even publish their email addresss, phone numbers and business address as well.
But this is just part of the fun. You don’t want just their address. Now it’s time to get their mugshots! For ordinary criminals, we’d search for their mugshots in the arrest records. But for professionals, we’ll get them from LinkedIn, Facebook and Pipl.com of course. (for best results search by their first and last name-no middle name or initial).
Too many hits? Then narrow by their school or company or state until you see you have the right one. Both LinkedIn and Facebook allow for these advanced searches. And Pipl pulls up their photos with just a name, OR their email OR their phone number. Still no luck? Then Google them or search for their photos in Google Images. (less reliable)
The 4 Suspects (To show the police or the local bar)
(LinkedIn)
(Pipl.com)
(LinkedIn)
(Facebook)
But wait! You may be able to narrow the list even further. Now about the car… Try putting their address in Other Street View Lookups to see if there’s a red car by their house. Might be useful in court! Or simply go by where they live or work to see if you can spot a red car with white paint on it.
Googling A Person By First Name Only
But what about if the person is not a licensed professional? People are dumbfounded when I tell them you can Google by first name, no last name and still find them. So I get crazy requests like “Hey. Can you find me this guy John in LA? All I know is that he’s a barista who I met 30 years ago at a Starbucks.” My answer is of course “NO WAY!” And quit asking me these things! I’m good. But no one is THAT good!
Let’s get one thing straight. You almost always know more about someone than you think you do. So use it to your advantage. At the very least, you probably would recognize them by their photo. And you’re likely to know their race, their approximate age, where you met them, and maybe things like a hobby, a job of theirs or the name of an ex wife or sibling. So if you need help jarring your memory, click here for a list of things that might be useful.
TO FIND THEM, THINK RARE
When you search by first name only, you’re bound to get a lot of hits unless you can narrow them down with something rare.
It could be a RARE first name along with their profession OR company. (SILBO and Patent attorney) OR a fairly common name coupled with a RARE street name , or a first name coupled with a string of common things that when put together are rare. And remember, even if you get 10 hits, you can figure it out by getting their photo. (e.g. plug each name into LinkedIn, Facebook or IDCrawl)
Examples Where People’s Last Names were found in the 1st 7 hits
Graham and morosgo ct (common name + rare street name)
Tiffany Unitedlex Georgia (rare company + state)
Rima Marwan atlanta (brother and sister + state)
Other suggestions
Carol ukele Boulder CO (rare hobby + city + state)
Teresa “cathedral school” “havana” site:facebook.com (first name with rare high school in Havana, searching only within Facebook)
For old classmates, look in classmates.com, your college directory or any other directory where you can search by first name, or first name and city, first name and age, or first name and DOB, etc.
Other Blogs
Christian-SOS (Walking Daily with Jesus)
I need to find lost friend
Provide some info and I’ll see what I can do.
Graham
I need to find an old friend.
Name, Middle initial, Approximate age, places they lived?
If you’d like help finding them, please provide the information requested in the link below.
http://consumer-sos.com/Georgia/People_Search/sleuthing_for_people_online_step.htm#MakeAListOfAllYouKnowAboutThePerson
Trying to find someone I met at a hotel bar it was his last night so he is no longer in the hotel. I know his first name field he works in and what state he is from as well as the hotel he spent the last month in
If he’s a doctor, lawyer, accountant or other state licensed professional, you may be able to find his name in the state occupational license lookups. (searching by first name only)
If he has a unique first name, you can Google it with his state and profession.
I need to find a friend…name is Margaret last initial is B, about 25 yrs old and lives in NC currently, used to live around New York/ New Jersey area
If you don’t know her last name, you almost certainly have an old email, an old phone number or an old address, see below for how to find both their last name and contact info.
http://sleuthforthetruth.com/reverse-searches-background-them-by-old-contact-info/
Once you have a last name, or address or email get their cell # through a name lookup at https://www.cyberbackgroundchecks.com/name
or by an email address search at https://www.cyberbackgroundchecks.com/email
or by an address search at https://www.cyberbackgroundchecks.com/address
i seen a girl at a game and forgot to ask her for her social media and i only know her age name and where she goes to scholl at
How old, first last name and school?
I used to drive a truck for a living,and i talked to her ever day,so i never asked for her last name,i would like to reconnect.Her first name is Linda no last name.
Do you have any old addresses, emails, contact info, something I can plug in and get something more?
A common first name needs something uncommon with it, like a strange hobby, or street name. Ex Linda Ukele Unicycle. got anything more?
No,sorry,but i do know where she worked at.It was a long time afo,in 1990-1992.The place called Uniqun Furniture Makers Industries,but out of business now,That is why i am having such a hard time finding her.She is about my age now ?? 60.
I need to know the last name of someone. I know his first name, his recent phone number, where he lived and the current city he’s on right now and the company he works for. Can someone help?
Brie,
I would put his phone number into several of these reverse phone lookups.
http://consumer-sos.com/Georgia/People_Search/sleuthing_for_people_online_step.htm#Phone_numbers_reverselookup
My husband and I are trying to reconnect with an awesome group of four guys we met in Vegas a few weeks ago, mid February 2021 .
My husband accidently had us ditch them. And now we can’t get these awesome guys out of our heads and everyday we’re trying to some how find them.
We have their first names, ages, location they live and photos of them and are trying to find them. If we find one of them then we’ll find the rest.
It seems like it should be easy, but we haven’t found them yet.
Not sure how you accidentally can ditch someone, but what’s done in Vegas stays in Vegas! I would think back to what made them so awesome, including unique things they said about themselves. Then Google their first names along with a string of things that make them unique. (don’t goggle their names together unless you think it will get a hit)
Examples below got the people’s last name in the first ten hits. To get their photo, plug your results into Facebook and LinkedIn
Graham and morosgo ct (common name + rare street name)
Tiffany Unitedlex Georgia (rare company + state)
Rima Marwan atlanta (brother and sister + state)
Other suggestions
Carol ukele Boulder CO (rare hobby + city + state)
hi.pls help me find this guy i dont know his last name only know his name is justin and he lives in ketchikan alaska his age might be around 34 or 35.. and he is working at bank as service manager.. .he wear eye glasses.. i have his photo but the google images only gave me similar photos of not him….
Do you know the name of the bank or anything else about him such as his email or an old phone number or old address?
Finding someone when you only have a first name would seem to be a daunting task. There are quite a few people from my past that I’d like to re-connect with, and I’ve noticed that one can associate with people for years and never bother to ask them what their last name is. There is usually never a reason to know someone’s last name under those circumstances. I can recall a dozen first names of guys I played ball with regularly in the 90s, but I never knew any of their last names.
It’s always nice to see past acquaintances doing well. Then there is the fear of finding out someone you knew has passed on. There are several people I’ve not had any luck in locating. For instance, in 2000 I attempted to help someone going through a tough time. Her name was Nancy. Her last name escapes me, but I remember her description. (Skin color, hair color, approximate height, weight and age. (She was 2 years older than me). I assumed she had an arrest record. (Possibly related to substance abuse). I gathered that much all those years ago from an NYPD officer in the 24th Precinct, which is the area I knew her from. A few months after I last saw her I bumped into someone who knew her and was told that she had gone “up north” or “up state”. (Though that could easily have meant “up the river” at the time). Or perhaps she had entered some rehab program, which is what I had been trying to get her to do.
What are my chances of finding her? (Considering I’m not a high ranking government official with access to classsified databases and search criteria). Are any of these pay sites really worth it?
Thanks.
Finding her in NYC or finding a last name will be heavily dependent on you knowing something key about her that eliminates the millions of false leads. I doubt the pay sites can help until you have a last name.
Do you have any old contact information such as a prior address, email, username or phone number? Or maybe the last name of a friend who could have her on their Facebook page. If you have contact info, it may be able to pull up a name, even if it’s old contact info. These are called Reverse lookups. See free links below which allow you to pull up names based on other info. This includes searching by their photo, if you have one, even if it’s a mugsshot.
http://consumer-sos.com/Georgia/People_Search/sleuthing_for_people_online_step.htm#ReverseSearches
Unfortunately, I only have her first name, description and neighborhood she lived in. I don’t have an old phone number, old address, old email, or old username. This was 2003. A year before Facebook existed. My only chance would seem to be access to the NYPD arrest database, so that is not gonna happen. Thanks.
I’m looking for someone based on a first name, estimated age (within a couple of years) and a college they attended (1993). I’ve tried a ton of different searches but to no avail. What sources can I utilize?
Do you have old phone numbers, old addresses, old emails or old usernames? Biggest thing is to plug these into reverse search engines too find her last name. For free ones, See
http://consumer-sos.com/Georgia/People_Search/sleuthing_for_people_online_step.htm#ReverseSearches
You can also search (tediously) in their college alumni directory or in classmates.com.
Is the first name a rare one? If so, Google it with her school. Do you know anything unique about her? Does she have a friend with a rare name that you could find on Facebook? (and see if she’s also listed as their friend)
All great questions and so far, nothing. The first name is not that rare and to complicate matters, the college was a two year school which seem much harder to get to useful info from.
I’m looking for someone Named Hannah Marie age 26. I do not have her last name. She currently works as a Nanny and lives in Greenville, Tx. Can you help?
Do you have any old contact info such as an email address, user name, old phone number? Often I can use these to find a last name and current phone number pr address.
I don’t. No contact info at all. The only other concrete info I have is her DOB, 4/1/95.
Do these two separate searches (Copy and paste each one into Google)
But it’s a long shot! This could retrieve a last name. I also tried with the term “nanny” but it pulled up false leads.
“hannah marie” “greenville tx”
“hannah marie” “greenville tx” AND 1995
I’m trying to get in touch with a someone, and all the info I have is she’s 28 lives in Chelsea Manhattan New York and goes by Alice (blonde and skinny, but possibly not always was like that).
If you know anything plz let me know ittomskaz@gmail.com
I tried looking online, but I wasn’t able to find anything.
Manhattan is high density living and Alice is an extremely common name. Without more, she has virtually no chance of being found. Your chances increase dramatically if you have a username, old phone number, old address, photo or old email address. for more see reverse searches at
http://consumer-sos.com/Georgia/People_Search/sleuthing_for_people_online_step.htm#ReverseSearches
Need help finding a friend from 20 years ago. I have only first name, age and city
Often old contact information can lead to new contact info. Do you have an old address, email address, old phone number, user name, etc. Do you know the name (or Facebook account) of one of their friends or relatives? (which could list the person you’re looking for as well). Do you have a photo? The latter can be uploaded and using Google Images search, perhaps find another similar photo with their full name. For more reverse lookups see
http://consumer-sos.com/Georgia/People_Search/sleuthing_for_people_online_step.htm#ReverseSearches
I am looking for a person named bertha that worked at Rosenbloom Paper Company in 1966
I want to re-establish contact with a woman I know. All I know is her first name is Darlene, her DOB is 9/12/1962 and she is from and lives in Southern New Jersey in the Berlin area but she probably don’t live in Berlin, just that area of New Jersey. Thanks for any help you can provide. I’ll even pay you a reasonable amount for finding her for me. If you find Darlene please send the information to my email and do not post the information.
How do I find a person when I only know the first letter of their name, plus their last name , plus city and county?
I’m sure the story here is quite interesting. Usually people know the first name and not the last name. Do you have any old or new phone numbers, usernames or email addresses you can do a reverse lookup on? How about photos? Are they a licensed professional like a doctor or lawyer, haircutter or accountant? Often the occupational professional directories in their state allow a search by last name or last name and first letter of first name. You can also search likewise in the arrest mugshot databases.
see the free resources below on Mugshots and reverse lookups and searches by profession.
http://consumer-sos.com/Georgia/People_Search/peoplesearch.htm#TheirTrailofPublicRecords
Her name is Diana she worked in the Catskills of New York. She told a bartender at the nevele country club she loved him. Her brother was a chef in a restaurant bar in nearby town. Can anyone remember her last name and where is she?
her name is Diana worked at bar in 1980 in catskills NY her brother also worked there near ellenville ny. we had a relationship. would like to get in touch with her if possible. worked at nevele country club she would know who I am. Any help appreciated
Wish I could help, but without more, I’m at an impasse.
Do you still help people find someone? I have a bit of a tricky case (at least for me, and i’ve been trying for ages)
If you do, is it okay if I message you their info privately?