The Search Advisor

Reunion Stories

Here are some family and adoption reunion stories sent to our OmniTrace private investigators:  Sari Acevedo, Rachel Weiss and Chris Maione. 

Happy Monday Chris!

I cannot thank Omnitrace enough for bringing such joy into my life!  I sent a letter to Laura’s parents, they called her and she called me.  We set up a meeting for a reunion on Saturday; what a spectacular day for all of us.  Her parents, adopted brother, Laura, myself and my husband met at Applebee’s in West Covina.  We were there for hours, laughing, telling stories and trying to catch up on 31 years of absence.  Laura was raised by the most outstanding, wonderful people.  It was fabulous to meet

Locate Someone Free

You can locate someone free by searching the White Pages.  These are available free via the Internet as well as hard copy telephone books.

Our researchers often use free online telephone directories and telephone books to locate someone and verify their address and phone number information.  We have our own library of telephone books covering cities all over the USA as well a list of our favorite online white page web sites. 

So, why do we use hard copy telephone books instead of online white page directories to locate someone free?  Good question!  We mainly use older telephone books to

States With Open Adoption Records

There are several states that currently have open adoption records.  In these states, an adult adoptee can obtain an original birth certificate and in some instances additional adoption record information.

If you are an adoptee looking for your birth parents in an open adoption records state, please do request your open adoption records.  However, please be aware that obtaining your original birth records does not mean that your search will be a piece of cake.  Having information on your birth mother, such as her maiden name and perhaps an old address is a nice start, but you will still have to obtain her current name and current address information.  Your birth mother may have changed her name several times, or she may not reside in the state where you were born.

Here is a list of states where adoption records for all or some years can be opened.  In some states, birth parents can sign a no-contact veto:

Search For Someone Lost 

When OmniTrace begins a new search for someone lost, we ask our client, who is requesting the search, for as much information as possible about the lost subject of the search.   We take extensive notes and use the following worksheet (feel free to make a copy for your own use):

Missing Persons Search Form

During the course of a search for someone lost, we attempt to fill in all the blanks in our worksheet.  We also take notes on any research that we conduct such as:

Searching For Birth Mother | Searching For Adoptee

The Public Library is a great resource if you are searching for your birth mother or searching for an adoptee. 

Not convinced?  Here’s just one example of how a library can help you when searching for your birth mother: 

If you were adopted in New York City and have your amended (adopted) birth certificate, you can obtain your original birth name by visiting the New York Public Library Genealogy Department.  This department has original birth listings (in birth books and on microfiche) dating back