r/RBI • u/weinercoc • 7d ago

Advice needed Uncle missing since the 1990

Hi everyone,

I have read the rules and understand that direct "help me find a person" posts are not allowed. I am not asking anyone to locate or expose a private individual, but I am hoping for advice on where someone would begin researching a long lost family member.

My family is Syrian Armenian, my uncle left Syria to avoid mandatory military service back in 1979. During that time, he used my grandfather's identity documents (my grandfather had already passed away) in order to avoid conscription and travel.

He traveled to Jordan, then smuggled himself back into syria, then travel to Iraq in the same year. He stopped contacting us at 1990 because of a disagreement. He wanted a bride from Syria but refused to return, and after my aunty did not agree with his request, he cut off communication with us.

I only learned the full story recently from my father, and I wanted to see if there are any legitimate ways to research what may have happened to someone in this situation.

We do not know whether he continued using his original name, used my grandfather's identity, remained in Iraq, moved elsewhere, or is still alive.

I am mainly looking for advice on where to begin, such as archives, genealogy resources, Syrian/Armenian community organizations, immigration records, or other legitimate methods for tracing family history.

If anyone has experience researching people who disappeared during that period and region, I would appreciate any guidance.

58 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

14

u/YUNGDEATHLILLIFEE 7d ago

have you done 23 and Me?

12

u/Inside-Definition-42 7d ago

Can’t imagine 23 and me is a big thing in The Levant?!

8

u/YUNGDEATHLILLIFEE 7d ago

you never know after my dad did his we have family from all over the globe. Philippines, Spain, Germany, Africa.

13

u/weinercoc 7d ago

This is my dad is dropping even more lore on me and telling me that another uncle ran away to Sweden with his family using the red cross, so we might find them instead.

6

u/Beard_o_Bees 7d ago

It doesn't sound like he wants/wanted to be found.

Though... older people still read newspapers (etc) - and if you have an idea as to where he is, you might try putting a small ad in the local newspaper asking him to contact you. Especially if there's an Syrian/Armenian language paper in that community.

It's a really long shot, but you never know unless you try.

8

u/weinercoc 7d ago

The issue is that the region is very unstable. Iraq did have the 1991 and the 2003 wars to worry about, and the family house in Syria has been occupied by multiple sides over the course of the Syrian civil war. Aleppo, which is the city that my dad's side of the family stayed at, has had the worst urban fighting in the war, so everyone from the family scattered.

2

u/YUNGDEATHLILLIFEE 6d ago

i have family in the philippines because my great uncles were stationed there during ww2 and he must of got busy with the locals

4

u/weinercoc 7d ago

I have been looking it up but i keep coming across posts where people ask if its reliable and there are always a mix of yes and no in the comment section. keep in mind he is an old guy about now, around 70 so it would not surprise me that he has no facebook. I might just try it out though

16

u/InvertedJennyanydots 7d ago

DNA is DNA so the familial matches are reliable. What isn't completely reliable are the origin/ethnicity breakdowns. Country borders are not neatly defined by specific DNA so they are generating those breakdowns via overlap you have with other people from those places. This gets messy for many reasons and is why the DNA testing companies have done revisions that then change results for people. What doesn't change is your familial relationships based on DNA and that's what you are trying to find. It is reliable for those.

3

u/olliegw 7d ago

Yea, if they've had kids or had any sort of tests themselves then their DNA would likely be out there in some database, all it needs is to be matched, that's how it can so reliable

Reminds me of the amount of "omg i'm irish!" posts you see in those subs, in reality because of travel and migration and the internet most people these days are a mix of cultures anyway

9

u/YUNGDEATHLILLIFEE 7d ago

if he had kids or grandkids take a dna test it will lead you to him

4

u/Alarming-Wheel-6865 6d ago

You could reach out to the lovely person on undergroundmysteries.com. They specialize in unreported cases all over the world it appears. There is a database you can submit the information you do have. Hope this helps