🧩 The Missing Piece

You've spent hours — maybe even months or years — searching online databases, trawling through records, and building your family tree. And then you hit it. That one ancestor you simply cannot find. The record that doesn't seem to exist. The town that won't reveal its secrets.

That's where we come in.

The Missing Piece is a flexible, targeted research service designed specifically for experienced researchers who need expert intervention on a specific problem. Rather than starting from scratch, we pick up exactly where you left off — and use our local knowledge, specialist skills and on-the-ground presence in Sicily to find what you've been unable to find remotely.

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT:

Based in Castelbuono, in the heart of the Madonie mountains, YpsiRoots offers something no remote genealogy service can match:

• 🔍 Expert interpretation of difficult, handwritten historical records

• 🗂️ Direct access to local commune records, parish archives and cemetery databases

• 🌐 Professional subscriptions to specialist sources — combined to build a fuller picture

• 📸 Physical visits to cemeteries, churches and archives when online research reaches its limits

• 🧠 An ever-growing proprietary database of Sicilian families — particularly in the Madonie region — that no online service can replicate

We find things that others miss. We correct errors that others perpetuate. And we go back further than most think possible.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Tell us your problem — describe exactly where you're stuck and what you've already tried

2. Choose your hours — select a research package that suits your budget

3. We get to work — immediately, methodically, and transparently

4. You receive a full written summary of everything we've found, including high quality digital images of records found, and our recommendations for next steps

5. Continue or stop — entirely your choice. No pressure, no obligation

PRICING:

Package

All research packages include a written findings report and high quality digital images of records found. Additional expenses such as commune fees or physical document retrieval costs are charged at cost and agreed in advance.

Field visits to locations within the Madonie region of Sicily may be included at our discretion. Field visits to other parts of Sicily are available at an additional travel supplement — please enquire.

WHAT YOU'LL RECEIVE:

At the end of each research package you'll receive:

• ✅ A detailed written summary of all research conducted

• ✅ High quality digital images of all records found

• ✅ A clear explanation of our findings in plain English

• ✅ Honest recommendations for next steps

• ✅ Any corrections to previously held assumptions — we frequently find that family stories / anecdotal information contain errors that only primary source documents can correct!

OUR PROMISE:

If we are unable to find what you're looking for within the agreed research block, we will discuss this honestly with you before recommending further hours. We will never charge for time spent on a search that yields absolutely nothing.

YpsiRoots services are intended for personal genealogy research. Commercial use of our findings requires prior written agreement.

READY TO FIND YOUR MISSING PIECE?

Tell us where you're stuck. We'll take it from there.