Question: Why Can't I Find Someone in Person Search When I Enter Only Their Last Name?

 

For system performance reasons, the search modules are set to alert you if more than 120 records match the specified search criteria. The modules return the first 120 records, which gives you some feedback, as well as the opportunity to further refine your filter criteria.

 

However, it's not guaranteed that the first 120 records returned will contain the record of interest. These are just the first 120 records that match the search criteria in an unsorted sequence. The odds that the desired record will appear in the first 120 records grows less likely as more records are added to the system.

 

Your best bet? Whenever possible, specify enough information to narrow the search to the record(s) you are interested in.  Specify what you know, such as first name, last name, gender, address, etc. You don't need to specify a value for every field, but if possible you'll want to narrow the results to a handful.