Wednesday, June 23, 2010

You want to find family in Mexico. Putting an ad in newspaper is NOT your first option.



I was reading a question by a woman who wanted to know how she could find someone in Mexico. The best and only answer she got was "put an ad in the newspaper". First, this was the best advice given on Yahoo Answers. The response got a one star, and the Asker was being generous.

This is not the first time I have seen this advice given by someone who knows very little or nothing about Mexico. This answer implies a stereotype that can be a great danger to anyone who is looking for a relative, loved one or friend living in Mexico.

The idea of placing an ad in a Mexican newspaper assumes a couple of things:
1) That everyone reads the paper including the "notices" section
2) That the city is so small that everyone knows each other

I'm from Texas where we have some pretty small towns with only a hundred or so people, those towns that if you blink when driving, you discover that you've already driven through it. There are such towns in Mexico, but in my experience because of how people populate an area, few relatives or friends are living in these small towns. Instead they are moving to medium to large cities.

Take Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacan. This city has over 600,000 residents. Monterrey, Nuevo Leon has close to 2 million residents. Mexico City has over 21 millions.

The idea of placing an ad in a Mexican newspaper assumes that Mexican cities are so small that everyone knows each other. The idea is that surely someone will see the ad and run down the street and knock on the person's door and say, "Jose, look! Someone is trying to find you."

In the many years that I have worked with clients to find their birth parent, mother or father, cousin or friend in Mexico, people have told us that they tried to find a specific person by posting an ad in the newspaper with no success.

I applaud anyone who has the determination to try everything to find a person in Mexico. However, the sad truth is that putting an ad in a newspaper has as little chance of working in Mexico as it would if someone put an ad in a U.S. newspaper.

Instead if you are wanting to find someone in Mexico, save your money and use it to gather the necessary information: their complete name, the city and state where this person lives/lived and search for them using whatever resources you have. If all of that fails, then get the professional help you need so you can find this person.

Saludos,

Richard Villasana
Richard Villasana

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Find Relatives In Mexico

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PS. Be sure to leave your comments. The more you share with us, the better we can help you find family in Mexico.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

#8 Can I find a person in Mexico and their address with only a phone number?



I get asked this question a lot. The idea is based on the belief that you can do a reverse phone lookup with a Mexico telephone number. If you are unfamiliar with a reverse lookup, it means you go to a database or website (there are several) and enter in a telephone number. The system will go through its database and, in most cases in the U.S., you will get the name and address of the person who has that specific telephone number. This reverse lookup is free and works very well in the U.S. so many people assume that this will happen for Mexico. They couldn't be more wrong!

Here's the reality for Mexico. There is no reverse look up in Mexico meaning there is no database online or offline where you can enter a phone number and get the address. We know there are thousands of sites that claim you can do a reverse lookup with telephone numbers, but they do not apply to Mexico. I have already written about this in the blog post dated Tuesday, May 18, 2010 entitled "Want to find family or friends in Mexico for free? You must read this before you spend hours online." Articles that claim that you can do a reverse lookup for Mexico are wrong and misleading. A few even try to sell you on their product to do a reverse lookup. Don't waste your money!

I also wrote about this topic on Monday, May 10, 2010, in the blog "#7 Is there a website to find people in Mexico with only a phone number?" I commented that you can just call the person and get their address, but I realize that there are situations where this is not possible. 

Recently a woman wrote that she wants to find her ex-husband who is living in Mexico so she can get child support. The Mexico police will serve him papers, BUT they need his physical address. The woman only has her ex-husband's phone number. Of course, she knows his name, but that hasn't helped her to find out where he's presently living, and he isn't offering to tell her where he is.

Now just because you can't do a reverse lookup for a Mexico telephone number doesn't mean there are no other options to find out more information that can help you find people in Mexico. You can take the city code and find out where the person lives barring that they have a cell phone, which means they could be living and calling from anywhere in the world. To see a listing of the most popular cities with their area codes, go to www.findrelativesinmexico.com/resources.html and click on the link under "Area Codes for Mexican Cities". 

Once you know the city and state, you can take your information and go online and do a search to find the person. I recommend using several search engines because they all give slightly different results. 

If this doesn't work, and about 96% of the time it doesn't (but you should try anyway), then you will need professional service. For instance, our company doesn't rely on telephone numbers to find people in Mexico. We have our own databases and access to thousands more throughout Mexico. 

Bottom line: reverse phone lookup does not exist for Mexico telephone numbers. You can still use the number to learn more so you can find a person in Mexico. If you can't do it on your own, then take your information to an expert so they can get you the rest of the way to finding that person in Mexico for you. 

Saludos,

Richard Villasana
Richard Villasana

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Leading expert and international authority 
    on finding relatives living in Mexico

PS. Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your Inbox? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

And be sure to leave your comments. The more you share with us, the better we can help you find family in Mexico.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Lessons to find family in Mexico from mother who found her kids through Facebook



If you haven’t read the story already, the title says it all: “Mother finds kidnapped kids through Facebook.” Over 15 years ago, a woman’s husband took her two small children and disappeared. While using Facebook, she was able to locate her daughter, which led to her recovering her family.  

Here are some lessons you can take from her situation as you try to find family in Mexico, or start your Mexico genealogy:
  • The woman had investigators searching for her husband and the children. Someone was taking action. Someone was checking records.
  • She knew the full names of her children and their relatives. She had documents on them, including their birth and medical records.
  • She didn’t give up. She continued to look for her children. She tried new ideas such as going on the social media site, Facebook.
Here are some things to keep in mind when you want to find family or a person in Mexico:
  • You probably want to find someone in Mexico sooner than later. Many want to find someone right now. This woman spent over ten years looking for her children before she found her daughter on Facebook. There are many steps you can take to find people in Mexico.
  • She didn’t find her children by herself. Even after she found her daughter on Facebook, she had to get the district attorney and the police to actually track down where her daughter is now living. You may get to a point where you need an expert to step in to finally put you in touch with your family in Mexico.
  • Even with the help of all the resources the police could bring to a kidnapping case, they couldn’t find the children because they didn’t know where to look. You must know at least the state where the person you want to find in Mexico is or was living. If you don’t know this, then your chance of ever finding them is almost impossible.
  • The article stresses that this all happened because of the existence and popularity of Facebook, something that did not exist a few years ago. One thing you should keep in mind is that far fewer Mexicans are online than Americans. Over 90% of Mexicans do not have a listing or presence online including having a profile on a social networking site. The majority of Mexican who do have profiles online are government officials, celebrities or business people.
  • Far fewer Mexicans have access to computers than we do in the U.S. It’s not uncommon for there to be two or more computers in many U.S. homes. There are desktops, notepads, laptops, BlackBerrys, etc. There is often not even one computer in a Mexican home. For Mexican homes that have computers, they are often a tool for business or homework only and not for spending several hours a day online chatting on social networks.
The Internet can be an excellent tool to use to find someone in Mexico. You should spend time online to search for family or friends in Mexico. However, keep in mind the limitations of the Internet. If you have searched online for more than a month to find a person in Mexico and been unable to locate them, then it’s time to take other action.

It may be time to bring in an expert who can review your information to be sure it’s accurate. An expert can also take your information to locate records to find that special person in Mexico. This woman found her family, but she didn’t do it alone. You, too, can find your family or friend in Mexico and with the right help, you will probably find them much sooner than having to wait ten years. That’s news that we can all be happy about.

Saludos,

Richard Villasana
Richard Villasana

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Leading expert and international authority 
    on finding relatives living in Mexico

PS. Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your Inbox? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.