How to Find Out Where Someone Is Buried: Your Full Guide

Cindy Ellis - February 20, 2023

Finding out where someone is buried might seem complicated at first. Still, with dedicated research and an idea of which historical records to access, you may easily be able to find out this information.

Our article gives you details on reasons why you might want to find out where someone is buried, which information you should gather before searching for a gravesite, and the best places to start your search.

Read on for everything you need to know about how to find out where someone is buried.

Reasons to Locate a Burial Site

There are many reasons to locate a burial site and find out where someone is buried. Below, we list the most common reasons to embark on one of these searches.

• You’re performing family research and want more information about your ancestors and where they’re buried.
• You lost contact with a family member or friend and want closure or to see where they are buried.
• You’re performing historical research on an individual and want to collect information about their death and gravesite to gain a complete picture of their life.

Of course, finding out where someone is buried can be a highly personal process, and this list doesn’t include all of the reasons why you may be looking for where someone is buried.

As long as you’re searching respectfully and taking your time to find a grave site, whatever reason you may have for performing this search is valid.

Information to Use When Searching for a Gravesite

The following information is great to have on hand when searching for a specific gravesite. Try to gather as much of the following information as possible, as the more complete picture you have about someone’s life and where, or when, they may have died, the easier it will be to find their gravesite.

Obituaries

Obituaries provide rich insight into a person’s life and the legacy they leave behind. Obituaries are also a great source of information for finding out a person’s date of death, their place of death, and any remaining family members that may have more information about the deceased’s grave location.

You can obtain obituaries through local newspapers or publication archives, local library or historical society, or via online research using genealogy websites. It helps to know the person’s full name, unmarried or married surname (if applicable), date of birth, and place of birth.

Once you’ve gathered this information and accessed the correct obituary, you can often find information about the place of a person’s death and the cemetery where they may be buried.

Death Certificates

Death certificates are some of the most helpful items you can use to search for a specific gravesite. Death certificates include important identifying information about the person and their date of death, which can help locate their gravesite. Information that is often included on a death certificate is the deceased’s date of birth, their parents’ names, place of birth, age, place of death, the undertaker or funeral home, and the name of the cemetery where they are buried.

If you’re having trouble finding a death certificate for a certain individual, you may want to search through county records offices, state archives, or even the health department. These locations often have archived information regarding death certificates; you may need to follow certain procedures to request and obtain a copy of an individual’s death certificate.

You can also run a people search to find out more information surrounding the deceased’s death. People searches pull information from publicly available databases and compile it into one easy-to-read report. With a people search, you’ll be able to find their last address, which can help narrow your search for their burial site.

Social Security Death Index

The United States Social Security death index is a database that holds information about individuals whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration. Deaths as early as 1962, when the death index was created, are included in the database up to February 2014. Updates to the death index occur on a rolling basis as time passes.

When you search the Social Security death index, you can find important identifying information about a person such as their name, date of birth, the location where their Social Security number was issued, date of death, and the location of their death. All of this information can help you find further obituaries or death certificate records and help you figure out where someone might be buried.

More information on how to use this database can be found here.

Family Records

If you’re searching for the gravesite of someone in your family, family records can prove invaluable. Often, families keep records such as birth and death certificates, marriage certificates, obituaries, and newspaper articles related to the deceased’s passing.

Speak to members of your family and go through any stored family records (it was once common to keep family records written inside of family bibles) that you know exist to try and find further information that may help point you in the correct direction of their gravesite.

Church and Graveyard Information

Church and graveyard information are important to consult when you want to find out where someone is buried. So if you know that the person you are looking for belongs to a specific religion or requested that they be buried in a cemetery with a specific religious affiliation, you may want to start your search for records here.

Contact local parishes or churches that may have records of the person’s funeral service or their burial in a specific religiously affiliated cemetery. Once you find out if the person was buried in a specific cemetery, you can further research their exact grave location.

Funeral Records

Occasionally, funeral homes and undertakers will keep records about the deceased individuals that have passed through their business. So if the gravesite you are looking for is more recent, you may want to call around local funeral homes for their obituary, death certificate, and the cemetery where they may be buried.

It’s important to note that while some funeral homes keep these records on file, many don’t archive them for long, so this may not be the best way to collect records on a deceased person far back in your family’s lineage.

Places to Search for a Burial Site

Once you’ve gathered records about a person’s death, such as obituaries, death certificates, and any church or family records, you may want to start your search using the following online databases or in-person services.

Historical Societies

Historical societies in the town where the deceased individual passed often have archived information containing records of death in the community, obituaries, and grave site locations. If applicable, bring information about the deceased, such as their place of birth, place of death, full name, and surname, and consult historical society records to find out where someone is buried.

If you’re having trouble locating certain records or information about grave sites in the community, you may want to speak to a staff member to streamline your search and point you in the right direction.

Genealogy Services

Genealogy services are offered both online and offline and provide an easy way to find out more about your family’s ancestry, your lineage, or where specific family members are buried. Often, you’ll need to pay a fee to an online or in-person genealogy service to narrow down this information. Still, some online websites, such as ancestry.com, offer free search tools to help you narrow down information about where someone is buried.

You will most likely need information about the deceased, like their name, place of birth, place of death, date of birth and death, and their unmarried surname where applicable to perform these searches.

Find a Grave Databases

The Find a Grave database is one of the most helpful online databases when it comes to narrowing down the gravesite of a certain individual. To find where someone is buried using this database, you will need to type their name and place of death into the website search tool.

Run the search and then review the results to find the correct gravesite. You can narrow your search by using birth dates, unmarried surnames, and obituary records to give you more information about the person.

BillionGraves is another gravesite database that offers similar search services and provides images of headstones when possible. Either of these gravesite searching tools is a great place to take your record information and find out where someone is buried.

What if I Can’t Find a Specific Gravesite?

If you’re having trouble finding a specific gravesite, you may want to expand your search to different types of records. For example, the National Archives provides more information on military and veteran death records. You may also want to contact a cemetery you suspect the deceased is buried in directly for help researching the specific plot of land or location where their gravesite is.

However, if you do find the gravesite you are looking for, be respectful to the grave and those surrounding it. Pay your respects to the ancestor, gather any other information you need from the deceased’s headstone, and exit the cemetery without causing any destruction.

Accessing the Burial Information You Need

Discovering information about a specific person’s burial site may be an overwhelming process at first. Still, with careful research, people searches, and the help of existing records, you can often find the answers you need. Make sure to refer to our article for records and documents that can help you narrow down where someone might be buried, and take your time researching via gravesite databases or speaking with a genealogy service to find all of the burial information you need.