how do you find out about relatives free on the internet?

[JW;<3]

i'm trying to find my dad.
i have tired genes reunited, myspace, facebook and other sites that don't charge, is there any other ways in which i might have sucess in trying to trace my dad?

[Ted Pack]

http://www.zabasearch.com sometimes works, if he is in the USA. We can't tell where you are from this end. GRU is usually means the UK.

Once in a while you can find someone with an exact phrase search in Google. That means you use quotation marks - double quotes ("), not single ones ('). You have to try all of the forms of the name you can think of:

"Tom Edison"
"Thomas Edison"
"Thomas A Edison"
"Thomas Alva Edison"

"Edison, Tom"
"Edison, Thomas"
(If that gives you too many, try
"Edison, Thomas A"
"Edison, Thomas Alva", because any page that has "Edison, Thomas Alva" will come up for the shorter phrase, "Edison, Thomas".)

The case isn't important, nor do you need the commas. You and I know that "Thomas Alva Edison" and "Edison, Thomas Alva" are the same person, but a computer doesn't.

If you are looking for something particular, add that outside of the quotes:
"Thomas Alva Edison" Biography
"Thomas Alva Edison" Patents
"Thomas Alva Edison" Obituary

If you know your person likes to jog, or lives in Beloit, add the additional outside of the quotation marks:
"Tom Edison" 10K
(etc. - you still have to try all 27 forms of the name, in quotes.)
"Tom Edison" Beloit
(etc.)

[Trey M]

ancestry.com is great. It's not free, but you get a free 14 day trial. I went 8 generations deep in a week, and canceled it.