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Step 1
Open up a web browser. Everyone has a favorite where browsers are concerned, but any will work. Go to the best known of the search-engine pages, Google, and enter a search on the old address you already have. It may be that the person you are interested in is still there.
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Step 2
Use the Internet white pages, which is like a local phone book listing, yet nationwide (see Resources). You can enter the name you have, whatever part of the name you have or the old address and the Internet white pages will tell you who lives at that address now.
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Step 3
Try some techniques that are less high-tech. Send an old-fashioned postal-mail letter to the old address and let the U.S. Postal Service forward it. Most people, when they move, still submit a change-of-address card to the U.S. Postal Service, which will automatically paste the new address on your envelope and send it along. This works for 12 months, and the post office will store the change-of-address information for 18 months.
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Step 4
Directly approach the U.S. Postal Service. You can talk to someone the old-fashioned way, at a post office. You can also go to the Postal Service national website (see Resources) and click on the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page. Ask them what kind of forwarding arrangements have been made concerning the old address.
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Step 5
Contact the people who now live at the old address and see what they know about the previous resident's location. If the address is a house, talk to the people there directly. If the address is an apartment, talk to the manager.
