Our agency was approached by a family from a Russian city. For five years they had had no contact at all with their relatives in Ukraine. Whether they were alive, whether they were well, how they were living — the family knew none of this and was very worried.
Contact Lost
The situation was not simple: at that time, communication with some regions of Ukraine was severely limited. The relatives had lived in a Ukrainian city, worked and led an ordinary life — and then contact broke off. The family tried various ways to find them, without success, and then came to us.
From the Last Address
The detectives started with the relatives’ last known place of residence and work. We checked everything that might point to a move: information about movements, changes of address, the people they were in contact with. A move does not always leave a noticeable trace, especially when communication with the region is difficult.
After several weeks of painstaking work, it turned out that the relatives had moved to another city in a different region of Ukraine. This came as a surprise to our clients — they had known nothing about the move.
A Message from Russia
In their new city the relatives had bought an apartment and found work: alive, well and living an ordinary life. Our detectives contacted them and passed on a message from their family in Russia. For a detective, this is the most pleasant part of the job — bringing people good news.
The reaction was joyful and very warm: the relatives confirmed that everything was fine with them and were touched that they were remembered and cared about. We gave both sides each other’s contact details, and the connection, broken for five years, was restored.
Years of silence are not a verdict: often a lost connection is just an ordinary move, not a tragedy.
What Helps a Search
The more is known about a person, the faster the search. Everything is useful: full name and date of birth, last address and workplace, the names of neighbors, colleagues and friends, old photos and letters, phone numbers, even if they stopped answering long ago. Sometimes the thread turns out to be something that seems trivial.
If Contact Has Been Lost
We search for relatives not only in Russia but also abroad. The reasons people lose each other are most often everyday ones: a move, a new phone number, a letter never sent. If you have heard nothing from your loved ones for a long time, don’t put off the search: it is easier to find a person while the trail is fresh than years later.