ever hired a detective?

[LaBellaVita]

I'm wondering if its worth the cost, but at the rate I'm going, I'll never find my dad. My mother is telling me very little information about him although I do know a few things, like a little bit about his army career...

 

I've been told I can contact the Army and they could give me some information, but I'm wondering are they free w/ the information if the man could still be alive, vs someone who served say, like in WWI? He was in the Army during the late 60's for sure, anything beyond that I do not know.

 

Have you done it?

 

Any words of wisdom?

 

[GirlNextDoor]

Start with a copy of your birth certificate. That has your dad's name & possible SS# on it. once you have your dad's name & DOB use these site:

 

http://www.zabasearch.com/

 

http://www.whitepages.com/

 

Almost forgot--once you have a town narrowed down look up the driver's license on www.publicdata.com & you can look up county records such as home titles & voter registrations. If you register to vote anyone can find you. I sound like Dale Gribble now.

[LaBellaVita]

guess I should have added I was adopted at birth, his name isn't on my birth certificate.

[GirlNextDoor]

If his name isn't on your birth certificate the chances of you finding him are pretty small, unless he or your mom claimed you in the census. Check Ancestry.com or send a letter to the Mormons. They supposedly keep track of whom is related to whom in some big computer bank buried in the Utah mountains. I'm sorry I can't be of more help.

[The MacKinnon]

Contact the:

National Personnel Records Center

Military Personnel Records

9700 Page Ave

St. Louis, MO 63132-5100.

 

This is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). http://www.nara.gov/regional/stlouis.html

 

It's been a couple of years since I went through them, but this should still work. You give his name, date of birth and branch of service, rank and time of service (ie what years he was in). Simply tell them he is your father. I'm guessing you don't have his SSN, but you shouldn't need it.

 

If he is dead, you can contact this office with a request for look-up at: http://vetrecs.archives.gov .

 

I've done something very similar with a living vet and got a lot of information from them. Hope this helps.

 

BTW, I wouldn't give out too much more info about your relationship. The fact is, he is your father and you have a legitimate interest in his history. You don't have to tell them you were adopted, etc. And, as Ann Landers used to caution, be prepared to find out things that may be very uncomfortable.

[LindaLou]

In case you are interested I have a relative and a friend who do this kind of thing and are great at it. I don't know if either one charges but they are magic with finding lost relatives. I don't know what all their resources are but they do a great job. When I started searching a lot of the information was still available to be accessed by the public now that's not the case. Send me a PM if you want me to connect you to them.

[Snowmom]

 

I have never hired anyone, but, I have put info in some of those places where you can leave info and have others contact you. I just never had the money to get someone to do the work like that for me.

 

If you can leave info here, someone might be able to help you too. I've had that work out for me.