How do you find someone who is lost even to the police? Try social media. In writing an article recently for a local newspaper, I wanted to talk to a woman who had suddenly closed up her restaurant and bar, a landmark in West Sacramento. What happened? A code violation? Or something more permanent?
The three telephone numbers I found for her did not work. She did not seem to use e-mail. People who knew her did not have a contact number. What now? The business did have a Facebook page, although it was nearly dormant. The owner’s last post was in 2010. But people could still write on the wall for the page. So I left my e-mail address there in case anyone had information. Sure enough, a week later, I got a reply.
She had seen the post. Turns out I was not the only one looking for her, in fact, the woman’s best friend had filed a missing person’s report with the police. Everyone’s fine now and there had never been any foul play. My writing for the article can now go on, thanks to a bit of investigative work and social media.
