How do I find my Aunt?

[hootyowls]

I am looking for some help please.

I have an aunt who is in her late 80s and lives a four hour drive away from me. Pre covid I would visit once a year and we would send birthday and Christmas cards together with a little note letting each other know what was happening in our lives. This year I did not receive a birthday card from her. I was concerned, so after a little while I rang her landline. The number did not ring out and she does not have a mobile.

She does have adult children, my cousins, but they do not live anywhere near my aunt and I do not have their contact details.

I would like to find out if she has maybe gone into a home, gone to live with one of her children or whether she is no longer with us.

I have thought of sending a Christmas card to her address with a message in it, asking if whoever opens it if they could let me know what has happened, but I am struggling to find the right words without being insensitive.

Is there anything else I could do that I have not thought of, or could someone help me with some suitable wording to put inside the card?

Sorry, that was longer than I planned, but any help appreciated.

Are your cousins on Facebook? Would other family have their details?

Are you in a position to just get in a/your car and drive to her house?

I don't use Facebook and not sure if they would, but I can ask someone to help me, so that's worth a try, thanks

Yes I could drive to the house, but like I mentioned it is a four hour drive away (and four hours back), but if the house was empty I still would not know her whereabout or if anything had happened to her.

How about dropping a note to the neighbours either side to ask if they know the situation ?

Have you googled her name?

If she has passed her name may appear in an obituary.

If you put her address in Zoopla you can find out if her house has been sold.

good idea about looking for an obituary, will try that.

If I have no luck with other avenues then I will drive up to her home and ask neighbours, but was hoping to avoid the long drive if I could avoid it, but I would do it to find out what has happened.

Did she go to church/live near a church? You could try phoning/emailing and asking if they can pass a message on to her asking her to be in contact.
I work in a church and we get a couple of that sort of enquiries every year.

We normally manage to make contact if it is still possible.
If she's moved to a home they won't necessarily be able to give details of the home, but they may tell you that. What I would do in that situation would be to contact them, or the home, depending on the situation and ask if contact details can be passed back to you.

Yes she did go to church regularly. There are a couple in the area I could contact and see where that leads me.

Thank you everyone for the excellent ideas.