How Do You Find a Dead Person?
Basics of genealogy research to find any grave, burial, or cemetery
Halloween is coming and it’s time to visit graves and cemeteries! Grave search is usually a part of genealogy research but can be useful in some traditional investigative cases as well. The work to digitize burials and death records is usually done by volunteers and the information is mostly free.
Many online search websites for gravesites and burials can point to a specific location. Most search engines require a name, years of life and a cemetery where a person was buried. Some services show family connections to other burials. Also, pictures of tombstones are a great way to find family connections, especially if they are located next to each other.
Sometimes, the information is not available online and it requires a visit to a cemetery that might have its records. If the place is small, county records, local churches, funeral homes, or local historical societies can be a great source of data. Death records can be available for free, but some clerk’s offices will require a fee to access certificates or apply family-based restrictions.
Because most of the cemetery genealogy research is done by volunteers, investigators need to check multiple websites and do fieldwork in some cases to get a full picture.
Grave Search
Find a Grave – one of the biggest databases, both graves and cemeteries
Billion Graves – another big database, that includes GPS coordinates
Interment – both graves and cemeteries
Cemetery Search
Obituaries Search
Death Records Search
State guides for finding death records
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