Locating people covers two related needs. Skip tracing is finding someone who is hard to locate on purpose or whose address history is unusually opaque: a defendant avoiding service, a judgment debtor, a witness, or a beneficiary. Missing-persons work is finding someone you have lost touch with: an estranged relative, a birth parent, an old friend, or a former business contact.
This guide explains how licensed investigators locate people, what information speeds a search, and the line between this work and an active-danger case that belongs with the police. We match you with NYS-licensed investigators; we do not run searches ourselves.
How Skip Tracing Works
Skip tracing combines proprietary investigative databases, public records across multiple jurisdictions, social-network analysis, and targeted source interviews to assemble a current location. Consumer people-search sites usually fail on a true skip case because the subject has taken steps to avoid conventional tracking, and the data those sites resell is stale.
Manhattan attorneys use skip tracers most often for service of process on a defendant who moved without a forwarding address, judgment enforcement on a debtor who relocated, witness location for depositions or trial, and beneficiary location in estate matters. Under New York's CPLR, valid service depends on locating the right person at the right address, which is where this work directly supports a case.
Finding a Missing Person
Missing-persons investigations range from straightforward to difficult. A person who is simply out of touch but not hiding can often be located in days. Someone deliberately avoiding contact, using alternate identities, or who has left the state takes longer, sometimes weeks. An investigator gives realistic expectations after the initial review.
If a person is in immediate danger, contact the NYPD first. Licensed investigators take cases where someone is not in active danger but standard methods have stalled: estranged family, birth parents or adoptees, old friends, debtors, witnesses, and cold trails.
What Speeds a Search
The more identifying information you provide at the outset, the faster and cheaper the search. Helpful inputs include full legal name and any aliases or maiden names, date of birth, last known addresses and employers, phone numbers and email addresses, names of relatives and associates, photographs, and the context of why the person is hard to find.
Simple service-of-process or judgment-debtor locates are often billed as a flat fee and completed in days. Deliberate-avoidance or sealed-record cases are scoped individually.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is skip tracing different from an address search?
Skip tracing targets people who are deliberately hard to find or whose address history is opaque. It combines proprietary databases, multi-jurisdiction public records, social-network analysis, and source interviews. Consumer people-search sites usually fail on these cases because the subject has avoided conventional tracking.
When should I hire a PI for a missing person in Manhattan?
When the person is not in immediate danger but standard methods have not worked: estranged relatives, birth parents or adoptees, old friends, debtors, or witnesses whose trail has gone cold. If someone is in active danger, contact the NYPD first.
What information helps locate someone fastest?
At minimum a full legal name, date of birth, and last known address or employer. Aliases, phone numbers, email addresses, relatives' names, photographs, and the context of the search all speed the work and lower the cost.
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Every consultation is free and confidential. Tell us about your situation and we will match you with a licensed investigator who handles cases like yours.