Special Consular Services

Finding Missing People in the United Kingdom

The U.S. Embassy can assist in locating an American citizen in the United Kingdom in cases of parental child abduction or missing persons cases, when a friend or loved one has not arrived at a location on the scheduled date and time. The Embassy cannot help you trace your ancestry in the United Kingdom.

The following organizations also may of assistance. This list is provided as a service to the public and does not constitute a recommendation by the U.S. Embassy. The Embassy cannot accept any responsibility for the professional ability or integrity of the persons whose names appear below. Fees are entirely a matter for agreement between the individual and the organization.

MISSING PERSONS: People go missing for various reasons, be it through personal choice, illness, stress, abduction, or foul play, as well as for drug- or alcohol-related reasons. If someone is missing and you believe they are at risk, the following organizations may be able to assist.

UK Police Service
Web: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/police
The police service can undertake inquiries to trace persons whose whereabouts are unknown and there are concerns about their safety and welfare. Initial contact should be made with your local police station.

National Missing Persons Helpline
Tel. in UK: 0500-700-700; from overseas: 011-44-20-8392-4545
Web: www.missingpersons.org

National Missing Persons Helpline provides support and practical help for relatives of missing people, such as contacts who look for vulnerable missing people on the streets, publicity/TV and print media if desired, checking names on a national computerized register of missing people, and an image-enhancing "age progression " computer program designed to update photographs.

Reunite
P.O. Box 7124, Leicester LE1 7XX
Advice line: 011-6255-6234, Tel: 011-6255-5345, Fax: 011-6255-6370
Email: reunite@dircon.co.uk
Reunite provides advice to parents involved in international custody disputes and parental abduction. Reunite advises both the left-behind parent and the parent with the child(ren).

Red Cross UK
London branch: 10th Floor, Westminster Tower, 3 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SP
Tel: 020-7793-3360, Fax: 020-7793-3361
Web: www.redcross.org.uk
The Red Cross offers a tracing and communication service to families who have been separated due to war or natural disaster. You may locate your local Red Cross office at the above website.

Association of British Investigators
27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3XX Tel in UK: 087-1474-0006; from overseas: 011-44-20-7262-9586
Email: info@theabi.org.uk
Web: www.theabi.org.uk
The Association of British Investigators maintains a list of professional, private investigators to conduct searches on behalf of individuals.

Adoption/Separated Family

Family members sometimes lose touch with one another in non-emergency situations, including adoption, divorce, and out-of-wedlock births. These organizations can help find family when the sought person is not considered at-risk. If you are in the United Kingdom and know in which town or city the missing person may reside, call directory assistance on 192 quoting the person's surname to see if they are listed and have a telephone number.

International Social Services (ISS)
Cranmer House, 39 Brixton Road, London SW9 6DD
Tel: 020-7735-8941
ISS is a professional social work agency, which has a department specializing in tracing relatives in other countries. ISS can help in the following situations:
• Where there has been adoption and a search is needed to find the birth parents.
• Where the child was brought up by one parent only and is now (as an adult) seeking to re-establish contact with the other parent, or when a parent has lost contact with a child.
• Where there has been disruption in the family leading to separation or divorce.

ISS cannot trace friends or assist in cases where child support is the prime concern. There is a charge for the service.

NORCAP
112 Church Road, Wheatley, Oxfordshire OX33 1LU
Phone: 018-6587-5000
Web: www.norcap.org.uk
NORCAP assists adult children or parents who wish to locate natural families.

The Salvation Army
101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN
Tel: 020-7367-4747
Web: www.salvationarmy.org.uk/familytracing
The Salvation Army's Family Tracing Service assists families in locating missing adults. They do not provide location services for fathers of children born out of wedlock, non-relatives, adoption cases, or genealogy research.

Traceline
PO Box 106, Southport PR8 82WA
Tel: 015-1471-4811, Fax: 017-0456-3354
Traceline uses National Health Service records to help re-establish contact between family or same-sex friends who have lost touch. The records cover England and Wales. They also forward letters to sought person. Charges apply.

UK Prisoner Location Service
PO Box 2152, Birmingham B15 1SD
Email: prisoner.location.service@hmps.gsi.gov.uk
Fax: 012-1626-3474
The UK Prison Service can help you trace someone you believe is in prison custody. All inquiries must be in writing and include the full name of person you want to contact, any other names by which the person may have been known, date of birth, and reason for inquiry. If the person is in custody, your details will be passed to the person, and he or she will be asked to give consent for the disclosure of his or her whereabouts.

War Babes
15 Plough Ave, South Woodgate, Birmingham B32 3TQ
Phone: 012-1608-5108
War Babes assists children or parents locate natural families who were conceived during the war years.

Kith & Kin Research
Green Gables, Willow Grove, Fair Oak, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO50 7BJ
Phone: 023-8069-2421
Email: info@kithandkinresearch.com
Kith & Kin Research locates family members.

UK Army Records Office
Web: www.army.mod.uk/contacts/divisions/records.htm
The Army Records Office can trace British military personnel. The type of trace undertaken depends upon when the individual left military service and the military unit in which he/she served. Please visit the website for more information.

Genealogy

The following organizations specialize in researching family trees and do not actually locate missing people. We have selected a few major resources from the myriad genealogy services. For a more complete listing, please conduct an online search.

Family History Centres
www.familysearch.org
London center: Hyde Park Chapel, 64-68 Exhibition Road, London SW7 2PA
Phone: 020-7589-8561
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints maintains Family History Centers where you can find census returns, wills, church records, etc., from most parts of the world. In addition, you may consult the International Genealogical Index and the Ancestral File, which contains millions of names, now searchable online. Your local center can be located online.

The Society of Genealogists
14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA
Tel: 020-7251-8799
Web: www.sog.org.uk
The Society of Genealogists maintains an extensive collection of family histories, civil registration, census material, etc.

Achievements of Canterbury
79-82 Northgate, Canterbury, Kent CT1 1BA
Tel in UK 012-2746-2618
Web: www.achievements.co.uk

The National Archives
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU
Tel: 020-8876-3444
Web: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
The National Archives of England, Wales, and the United Kingdom has one of the largest archival collections in the world, spanning 1,000 years of British history, from Domesday Book of 1086 to government papers recently released. Family histories can be traced by searching the archives.

Family Records Centre
Email: webmaster@familyrecords.gov.uk
Web: www.familyrecords.gov.uk
An official UK Government website assisting those looking for family records.

The Association of Genealogists and Record Agents (AGRA)
Email: agra@agra.org.uk
Web: www.agra.org.uk
AGRA maintains a list of genealogists who will undertake family tree research for a fee.

Electoral Registers

Published annually by the Electoral Registration Officer of each local UK council, these records contain the name and address of each registered voter. Access to these registers differ, but is most often gained through libraries, post offices, council offices, and Citizen Advice Bureaus.

back to top ^