How To Find Someone You Suspect Has Been Arrested
Posted on: 6 January 2015
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Are you worried that someone you know has been arrested? This situation can leave you feeling helpless, but there are many tools that you can use to find out whether your friend or family member is in jail. Follow these steps to locate them and get them out as soon as possible.
Get Your Information Together
To locate someone, you'll need their full name and date of birth. A social security number is not necessarily, but a middle name or at least a middle initial often will be. It's almost impossible to confirm whether someone is currently imprisoned or has recently been arrested without a date of birth.
Begin With Your County Police Department
You can begin by calling your local police departments. Do not call 911; instead, you should always use the non-emergency line. However, do keep in mind that, during busier times or off hours, it can take a while to connect with someone at the police department and the person you're looking for many not have been processed yet through their system. If you cannot get an answer by phone, you can move on to the police department website.
Perform an Inmate Lookup
An inmate search can be performed on a county-by-county basis or even through the federal system if it's someone who has been arrested for some time. The advantage of an inmate lookup is that it will give you all the information right away; you won't need to wait to talk to someone and you can perform a search quickly in your local areas. Pay attention to your typing, as an error in name will result in no matches being found.
Contact a Bondsman
Once you've found your friend or family member in jail, it's time to contact a bondsman. A bondsman like Tony Madrid Bail Bonds will be able to help you with the rest of the process of bailing your family member or friend out so that they can wait for their trial in a more comfortable situation. The process of bail bonding varies by state, but the bondsman will usually be able to get the relevant information for you, such as the bond amount and the current charges involved.
If you did not find your friend or family member throughout this process, it may be time to file a missing person's report instead. In most states, a missing person's report can be filed between 48 to 72 hours after the person has been last seen. There may be no time limit if the person disappeared under suspicious circumstances.