Website of the UK government

Checking electoral registers

If you know the last address of of your missing relative, you can try searching the relevant electoral registers by contacting your local council. The registers may help you to find out how long a person lived at a particular address.

If you can’t find a family member on the register, this could mean that they have moved home, married or died. A full set of electoral registers for the UK since 1947 is held by the British Library.

• Find your local council Opens new window
• The British Library Opens new window

Searching birth, marriage and death information

The General Register Office (GRO) records all births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales. Usually the GRO index consists of the year, volume number, page number and district in which the birth, marriage or death was registered. You can find out a list of places where full copies of these indexes are held from the GRO website. Many county record offices and local libraries also hold sets of indexes which you may be able to find by searching your local council website.

You can order copies of birth, marriage and death certificates from the GRO for events registered 18 months ago or more online, by post and by telephone. Certificates of events registered less than 18 months ago can be obtained from the local register office, but only from the district where the event was registered. Certificates should have addresses that you can check in relevant electoral registers.

• Find your local council Opens new window
• Accessing the General Register Office's indexes Opens new window
• Order a birth, marriage or death certificate online Opens new window

Searching wills
If you think that the person you are looking for may have died, it’s also worth searching indexes to wills kept at the Principal Probate Registry Search Room in London. Even if you haven’t been successful in finding an entry in the death indexes it may be worth checking the will indexes as the missing person you’re enquiring about may have died abroad on holiday or business, or while on duty with the armed services. The National Archives have a set of will indexes from 1858 to 1943.

• National Archives Opens new window
• Contact details for the Principal Probate Registry Search Room Opens new window

Searching for name changes
It’s also a good idea to check for possible name changes. Nowadays most name changes are done by deed poll, using a solicitor, and no centralised records are kept unless the change of name was enrolled in the Royal Courts of Justice. Information about name changes enrolled within the last five years can be obtained by writing to the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Enrolled changes of name over five years old are held by The National Archives at Kew.

• Contact the Royal Courts of Justice for deed poll information Opens new window

Using a tracing service

Many organisations and businesses offer to trace missing people for you on the internet. Some websites offer to carry out research for a fee, but you should check that the service is run by people who are experienced in this kind of investigation.

Online help for missing people and their families

Missing People charity
Missing People (formerly the National Missing Persons Helpline) is a UK charity dedicated to helping missing people and supporting their families. You can access:

• a national 24 hour helpline for people who are missing someone
• a confidential national computerised register of missing people
• advice, guidance and practical help to families of missing people
• a 24 hour confidential helpline for people who have left home and wish to get in contact
• profiles of missing people

You can contact the 24 hour confidential freephone helpline on 0500 700 700.

• Missing People website Opens new window

Missing young people
The Missing People Runaway Helpline is dedicated to children and young people under the age of 18 who have run away from home or care, or who have been forced to leave home. You can phone them on 0808 800 70 70 and get advice and  information to support and enable you to make a decision about what you want to do next.

• Runaway helpline Opens new window

The Salvation Army Family Tracing Service
The Salvation Army Family Tracing Service helps to find relatives over the age of 18. You can contact them on 0845 634 4747.

• Salvation Army's family tracing service Opens new window

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) Missing Persons Bureau
The NPIA Missing Persons Bureau (MPB) helps the police in their missing people investigations by maintaining records of missing and unidentified people. If you are missing and want your family to know you are safe but don’t want them to know where you are, you can contact the Missing Persons Bureau.

The MPB also manage and co-ordinate the Child Rescue Alert service and the Missing Kids website, designed to assist missing children investigations.

• NPIA Missing Persons Bureau Opens new window
• Missing Kids Opens new window

Other useful websites
'Cyndi’s List’ provides links to a large number of other sites concerned with locating missing people.

• Cyndi's list Opens new window

‘Missing You’ allows you to post a message on the site and read others.

• Missing you website Opens new window

The ‘look4them’ website provides a service by eight UK organisations involved in tracing missing persons.

• Look for them website Opens new window