How do you find the people who died in any given year?

Question

Some people in my family died this year and I was wondering how do you go about search for public death record? Also, do they tell you where they are buried? I do not know the last names of some because they may have changed since I last spoke to them. Is there a way to do a mass search in certain states. I am not in the state they died in however.

Answer 1

This is the social security death index.  It is only an index to names, dates, and places for death, which is limited information. It is normally up to date in a few months following a death.  That means, if they died last month, it PROBABLY will not show up for a while. Does not mean they did not die.

Yes, you CAN use the advanced search boxes.. you can force it to list all Jones who died in 1993 in Los Angeles.  Or in Dallas county in June 2003.

Here is what it will NOT DO.. it won't help if you don't have a name of some kind. Yes, it can do a first name search. You still need a time frame and some location (if only the state).

If it brings up 50 persons named Jenny in a certain county.. it is still up to YOU to look at the dates, and figure out if this can be your relative.

Next.. this does not say where they are buried, what they died of, or anything else. You still have to pursue that information.  If you have a name and date, you MIGHT check the town for the name of the newspaper, and search for an obituary. This works best in a small town. A death certificate lists the cause of death.. but if you are not immediately related, you normally cannot get that. The obituary can show surviving relatives and maybe place of burial. It should show the name of the mortuary.

Nothing is guaranteed. Your main thing is to break down the process, and look at many things, not expecting it all to be in one location.  Some persons don't even have obits, so that would stop there. You won't know without looking.

Answer 2

The SSDI mentioned above will show you, for instance, everyone named "Mary" who died in California in 2002. There will be thousands. Unless you know your Mary's exact date of birth, picking her out will be tough. It might  be easier to ask all of your relatives that you DO know if they know of other relatives. Make a list of those you know, send it to them, ask.

Ask who they married, how to contact them (e-mail, snail mail, phone), if they are alive. When the results come in, repeat.

http://www.findagrave.com

has 22 million entries, most in the USA, some with maiden names. It isn't complete, but you might get lucky.