When you think back over your life, there are many people who have played roles at different times who were very important to you at the time, but who seem to have faded into the background over the years. Wouldn't it be great if it was possible to reconnect with some of those people who have come and gone throughout your life? Now there is, through the various searching tools available on the internet.

To start, you can always try a basic search engine query. Make sure that you don't give up right after your first search using your friend or relative's name as the keyword. Instead, try including other relevant terms along with the name, such as any organizations with which he or she is affiliated, a place of work, a former school, or even simply the city where he or she lives. You may also want to try putting the name in quotes to tell the search engine that you want only that spelling with those two names together, and not every instance where one of the names, but not the other one, occurs online.

If you aren't successful with the search engine query, then you may want to head to a people search site that is better geared for that type of investigation. These sites allow you to enter other possible searching terms and know that you are looking for a specific individual, not just anyone with one or both of your acquaintance's names. The results with these sites are usually a great deal more accurate than those using a regular search engine.

Should you be looking for a former classmate, then a free alumni finder might be just what you need. This will help you to refine your search even further so that you can find the person you're looking for. By identifying the school and graduating year, you will be providing your lookup tool with a great deal more precision with which to hunt for your friend. If it's a school chum you're looking for then you certainly won't want to skip alumni lookup sites.