How could I look up a name from an email address?

[Green Man]

My wife has a friend on a board that she posts on all the time that usually posts every day. She is from New York City. She hasn't posted since monday, and my wife is worried. She knows her real name is Lisa, and has her email address, but doesn't know her last name. I tried using some reverse lookup sites on the internet to get a name from her email address, but have gotten no hits. Does anyone have a way to do this?

 

[Looney]

Good question for a good gesture... so i'll help ya bump this.

 

[MichaelD]

To my knowledge, unless you "have a friend" at the ISP that hosts that particular email addy, you can't find out someone's real name. Sorry to be the first to tell you. Why do you think so many people have @hotmail and @yahoo email accounts? Because they are almost 100% anonymous (sp?). I hope your wife's buddy turns up OK.

 

[Green Man]

It's an AOL email addy if that helps.

I can feel my wifes concern. It's sometimes amazing how you can feel you know a person you've never met except for posting on a board and exchanged emails and IMs. You may not know thier name or phone number, but you may know things about them that even thier closest friends don't know.