Contacting lost friends

An old friend quit the game, and then a while later I also quit, but logging in today I came back to an 8 month old mail from a new account on a character that no longer exists preventing me from responding. Is there some way of obtaining her display name to try and get back into contact if she's still around or is this basically a lost cause at this point?

In the top-left corner of your UI is a small dark head-icon with an arrow Party (P). Click on that and type in the name of the character you received the e-mail from. You will create a party. During the pending sequence, you should be able to read out the account-name.

If that does not work, have a look into your Contacts => Followers. Nowadays it is almost impossible so send mails to strangers, so you usually have to /friend them in order to do so. There is always a good chance the other person forgot to unfriend you after the mail was sent.

Those are the two methods I know. Also try to remember your shared contacts, any friends from the past you both know, ask them. Good luck!

@HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

If that does not work, have a look into your Contacts => Followers. Nowadays it is almost impossible so send mails to strangers, so you usually have to /friend them in order to do so. There is always a good chance the other person forgot to unfriend you after the mail was sent.

There is no need to friend someone to send mail... I send tips to mesmers who port to daily jps every time, and never friend them first. It also doesn't help when sending multiple mails - guildie, mutual friend and currently partied up still spam-blocks after two mails.