Missing person

[P01IC3M4N]

here's the backstory so bear with me.

my grandfather got married in the late 1940s to a woman when he was stationed in florida. around 1950, he was called to war in korea. while my grandfather was away, his wife had a child, BUT she also met another man. since my grandfather missed out on the early part of this child's life, his wife suggested they get a divorce and she tell the child that he was killed in the war. my grandfather's ex-wife remarried and this man adopted the child.

it has been 50 years since this happened. this lady was born in florida sometime in 1954 or 1953. that's all i know.

my grandfather has told only very few people about this; my mother and my aunt know and those are the only two that i'm aware of that know.

my mother and aunt are going to try and get more information about this daughter that he has. my grandfather is not long for this earth and i'm sure this lady in florida would be overwhelmed to find out her father is alive.

i want to find her. my question is how? i have virtually no information about her or the ex-wife, but my mother and aunt are working on it. being 50 years ago, there won't be much information coming from my grandfather either since he's never seen this child/lady.

before anyone jumps in and says i should leave it alone, i know my grandfather far too well to believe that he wouldn't want to meet his long lost daughter. i also know that if i was an adult and i'd always thought my father was killed in a war, but later discovered he was alive and well, i would jump at the chance to meet him. if and when i find her, i will give her that decision, which is why we are not letting on to my grandfather about our search.

do any of you guys have suggestions that would help me in my search?

[sorrel]

If you know the name of the lady he married, that will be of great help.
You can look up her name at the hall of records, local for that area, and find out what her married name became. As well as a record for the daughter being born. And the name of the daughter.
Salt lake city has a large data base that covers many different states, and I believe much of it is online. You may want to check into it. A lot of ppl use it to find long lost relatives.

Knowing the state to start with, and her maiden name are important. Knowing when she was married to your grandfather, and when she got remarried are helpful as well.

If you are unable to gain the info you want, then you may want to hire a private investigator, esp if this is not local.
If it is local, go to the libary first, they should have even the oldest of papers on micro film ( hopefully). It is a great way to find something without the hassle of the legal system to go thru.

Good luck.

[txinvestigator1]

Hire a PI. We have access to proprietary databases and the expertise and experience to do this. I would suggest one close to your mother and aunt (goegraphically).

It wont be cheap. Usually a PI will locate the person and discreetly contact them, explain the situation and give THAT person the contact info of the person searching for them.

It is then up to the person to decide if they want to be "reunited".

Whatever you do, good luck and keep us posted.