Newspapers can easily get a fact wrong in the rush to meet a deadline or simply because details are not double checked. Online searches of digital newspapers need to take this into account. If looking for a reference to a specific person, consider using just their first or last name and a key detail of the event or narrow down the search for the approximate time of the event.
Think of other key words that may be mentioned in the article besides the name–occupation, type of event, street name, etc. There is also the chance that your person of interest is mentioned without their first name or without their name at all. If a newspaper mention of a relative suggests that there might have been earlier writings about the event and you cannot find them, consider search approaches without using their name at all–sometimes when a story is “fresh” someone may not even be named in the story.
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