Help with finding an old friend

davidperu · Post by **davidperu** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:29 pm

I wonder whether anyone can help. I am trying to find an old friend who lived in Finland. I don;t have much to go on other than a first name and the town they lived in and the age they were? I am planning to be in Finland for Christmas, I wanted to see if I could meet up with her.

Thanks
David.

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Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:40 pm

What do you need?

davidperu · Post by **davidperu** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:41 pm

Any ideas

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 11:06 am

You're joking, right? How can I help you if you provide no information about the person? Do you expect me to read your mind?

cookbarry · Post by **cookbarry** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:39 pm

It really is a long shot but does anyone on this forum know a lady called Sirkka Auvinen , now aged 73 , who lived in Lahti 44 years ago . I thought as a stupid 29 year old in
those days and would love to speak to her again and apolgise for my mistake and explain my gross stupidity ( in a tactfu and discreet way of course if she has a partner who is alive ).
i hope someone can help me . It has always preyed on my mind and especially in recent years and means i have no peace of mind and feel rarther depressed - silly I know but difficult to switch the mind off ( wry smile ) .
thankng you ,
Barry .

Jukka Aho · Post by **Jukka Aho** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:29 am

cookbarry wrote:It really is a long shot but does anyone on this forum know a lady called Sirkka Auvinen , now aged 73 , who lived in Lahti 44 years ago.

Fonecta.fi, one of the local phone directory inquiry services, knows about as many as three persons named Sirkka Auvinen living in Lahti. I have sent you the details as a private message.

cookbarry · Post by **cookbarry** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:24 am

hi jukka ,
It is so kind of you to reply and with useful suggestions. Aklmost certainly Sirkka will have married and will have a different surname as I believe
it is the Finnish tradition and western tradition although nowadays it does not always happen . However , I am returning to Europe to live in Ireland in a few months
from Austrlia and will ring the numbers you supplied in the hope that they might know the lady I wish to conrtact . But I think my only hope is if someone on this
site happens to know her personally or is a friend . I did try facebook and skype but ages of people not usually shown and i got no responses when I asked a few .
Thanks again for your help Jukka . and maybe I can reciprocate in some way in the future . So please contact me if I can .
regards,
Barry

Jukka Aho · Post by **Jukka Aho** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:21 pm

cookbarry wrote:But I think my only hope is if someone on this site happens to know her personally or is a friend . I did try facebook and skype but ages of people not usually shown and i got no responses when I asked a few .

Even though there are native-born regulars as well (such as yours truly), most people who frequent this forum are would-be immigrants, actual immigrants, or ex-pats.

If you're really interested in finding her, you could maybe post a personal ad of some sort in the local newspaper, the Lahti-based Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, preferably with enough details to make it possible for even someone else than herself to recognize her from the ad. You can find the contact details of the paper here. Unfortunately, they do not appear to have a public email address for their customer service, so it's going to be either a fax or a phone call. (Beware: If you see generic addresses of the form etunimi.sukunimi@somedomain.fi being advertised on the website of some Finnish company, that is not an actual email address. Etunimi = "first name" and sukunimi = "last name"... which is only helpful if you know the name of a person you're trying to contact and can replace those generic words with his or her actual name.)

Jukka Aho · Post by **Jukka Aho** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:48 pm

cookbarry wrote:However , I am returning to Europe to live in Ireland in a few months from Austrlia and will ring the numbers you supplied in the hope that they might know the lady I wish to conrtact .

Another suggestion. If you're Australian, you might know of the TV show called Find My Family, which is actually based on the Dutch format Spoorloos ("Lost Without a Trace") and which has been produced as localized versions in various countries. (Some Swedish person appears to have uploaded many episodes of the Australian edition on YouTube featuring the original soundtrack but with Swedish subtitles. Check out those YouTube clips if you have not seen the show.)

There's a Finnish edition as well, called Kadonneen jäljillä ("On the Tracks of the Missing/Lost One"). Clutching at straws here, but if you're really desperate about finding her and willing to share your story, the producers of these shows in any of the countries related to you, or the missing person, might be able to get you on the show if they're currently producing a new season. All the editions I have seen (AU, UK, Finland) track people from foreign countries as well. The latest Finnish season was broadcast by MTV3 but produced by Banijay Finland.

cookbarry · Post by **cookbarry** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 3:00 pm

thanks so much for your further suggestions Yukka and I have just noticed your posts as not advised by this site that I had some responses . Quite a bit ti think
about and easier to take action when back in Europe .

tuttu · Post by **tuttu** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 1:35 am

i had a little experience in trying to help a friend with a similar problem -
it is not an uncommon thing to ask.

there's organizations/associations to help with such things. they usually advertise themselves as helping to find relatives lost during the war, but surely they're not limited to that.
the red cross comes to mind as a starting point, at least they'll be able to tell you where to ask.

in finland, there's an added bonus that it's a small country and it really makes it easier to find people.

plus, well maybe i'm watching too much tv, but private detectives actually exist, and if you have a few credits to spare, you could employ one...

just some general advice, since it seems that more than 1 person were asking this question.

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