6 techniques that really work

A few years ago I lost my passport two days before a big international trip. Obtaining a new passport quickly would cost hundreds of dollars. And I wasn’t sure if it would arrive on time.

You can imagine how stressed I was. The last time I saw my passport was on my bed. I turned my room upside down to try to find it, but to no avail.

I ended up taking a day off to look for that passport. That’s how serious I was about finding it. But my search felt completely haphazard. I felt like I didn’t have the skills to look for it in a strategic way.

That experience made me wonder: there has to do this in a more methodical way. To find out, I asked visual search researchers, a metal detecting enthusiast, and a detective about the science and art of finding lost objects.

Here are five helpful techniques for finding missing items – whether that’s something sentimental, like a class ring, or something valuable, like an envelope full of cash. I hope they help you find what you’re looking for.

Expert strategies to find missing objects

Technique 1: Identify what makes your missing object stand out from its surroundings.

It could be the size, color, texture or shape. Then search based on that unique characteristic. It will make the process faster and more efficient, says Arryn Robbinsa cognitive psychologist at the University of Richmond who specializes in visual search. Instead of looking at everything in a room, this approach helps you focus your attention only on objects with that distinction.

Robbins recently used this tactic when she lost the back of a rose gold earring on a rug in a similar color. So she changed her visual strategy to focus on everything shiny and reflective. “As soon as I thought of that, I saw it almost immediately,” she says.

Technique 2: Think about likely scenarios of how and why your item might have been lost in the first place – and where it might be located.

That’s how Demian Garciaa metal detecting enthusiast based in Northern California, helps clients find their missing jewelry in challenging places like parks, beaches and roadways.

Even before he turns on his metal detector, he begins his search by asking his customers basic questions. ‘Do you have places where you normally put it? Where have you lost it before? he says.

For example, if you’ve lost your class ring, look at where you usually put it: the nightstand, your jewelry box, the bathroom counter. If you’ve lost your ring in the car before (because you played with it while driving), check there too.

Then think about any specific situations that may have caused you to lose your item. Garcia discusses typical ways people lose rings from their hands. ‘Did you throw anything away that day? Were you dealing with cold water? Have you applied lotion anywhere? These questions can help you determine a more targeted strategy for where to look.

Technique 3: Reproduce the movement of the object around the area you first remembered losing.

Allie Sullberg / For NPR

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For NPR

The behavior of how the object falls, lands, or moves as you replay the scene can provide clues as to where the object might be. Garcia uses this tactic when clients lose a ring because they throw it out the window or across the room, usually during an argument.

Garcia remembers helping a woman who threw her wedding ring out the passenger window of the car. “She kept saying, ‘I threw it out right away,’” he says.

He wondered: was it really “there”? To test the theory, he took a cheap ring, tied a long red ribbon to it and asked the woman to throw it out the window, as she did with her wedding ring. “She threw it three times in a row and it never went straight out the window. He flew back behind the car,” he says. This technique allowed him to find the woman’s ring.

Technique 4: Break your search routine by changing your perspective.

Professional finders, such as search and rescue responders, don’t just look at the ground when looking for missing people in the wilderness, says Michael Houta cognitive psychologist and director of the vision sciences and memory lab at New Mexico State University.

They scan their environment in 360 degrees. That means “looking down, looking up, looking left and right, bending down to change your perspective, turning around to look at things that were not visible to you when you first approached them,” says Hout.

You may be surprised by what you find. “For example, a windbreaker that someone takes off when it gets hot could have been picked up by the wind and blown into a bush or tree,” he says.

Technique 5: Look into strange and unexpected areas.

If you can’t find your keys in the places you normally leave them — your purse, your pocket, the table by the front door — “force yourself to look in low-probability areas,” says Hout. “Sometimes people put their keys in strange places. Maybe they dropped them. Or someone moved them.”

Technique 6: Divide your space into sections, then search each section thoroughly.

Grid search, as it is called, is a form of systematic search, Robbins says. It is sometimes used in search and rescue operations as a last resort to find missing people. But it can also be a useful tool if you’re looking for something in a cluttered room, where the distinguishing features of your missing item may be difficult to spot.

“It will be slow and less efficient, but it will help you find what you’re looking for,” Robbins says. “Imagine your search environment as a grid. Cover each square in the grid, perhaps from top to bottom, left to right.

The idea is to come up with a solid search strategy, without having to remember every location you’ve already viewed, she says. You don’t necessarily have to measure out a grid. Imagine breaking down the search environment into smaller units (sections of a room, pieces of furniture) and then searching those units in an order that makes sense to you. If necessary, use Post-it Notes to indicate where you have already looked.

How I finally found my missing passport

I spent hours on my search and my brain was fried. I sat on the bed and looked around the room. And then I just had this moment of clarity. The passport has be close to the bed. That’s where I last saw it.

So I pushed the mattress off the bed. And where did I find it? Stuck between the wall of the bed and the side of the mattress!

While I didn’t have any of the strategies I’m giving you now to find my passport, I did have perseverance. That’s what you need if you want to succeed in finding your lost item.

I asked Darryl Ellis, head of A-1 Detective Agency in Illinois, what it takes to be a good detective. He has been a private investigator since 1996.

“If I had to use one word, I would say tenacity,” he says. If you’ve lost something you really care about, keep going. Don’t give up.

This episode of Life Kit was produced by Margaret Cirino. It was edited by Margaret Cirino and Meghan Keane. The visual editor is Beck Harlan.

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