diff --git a/app/controllers/people_controller.rb b/app/controllers/people_controller.rb
index 25fcdf2af..4c186569f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/people_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/people_controller.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,13 @@ class PeopleController < ApplicationController
   before_filter :authenticate_user!
   
   def index
-    @people = Person.friends.paginate :page => params[:page], :order => 'created_at DESC'
+    unless params[:q]
+      @people = Person.friends.paginate :page => params[:page], :order => 'created_at DESC'
+      render :index
+    else
+      @people = Person.search_for_friends(params[:q])
+      render :xml => @people
+    end
   end
   
   def show
diff --git a/app/models/person.rb b/app/models/person.rb
index bc6e586ec..ee7ad104f 100644
--- a/app/models/person.rb
+++ b/app/models/person.rb
@@ -30,9 +30,11 @@ class Person
 
   after_destroy :remove_all_traces
 
-  scope :friends,  where(:_type => "Person", :active => true)
-
-
+  scope :friends, where(:_type => "Person", :active => true)
+  
+  def self.search_for_friends(query)
+    Person.all('$where' => "function() { return this.profile.first_name.match(/^#{query}/i) || this.profile.last_name.match(/^#{query}/i); }")
+  end
  
   def real_name
     "#{profile.first_name.to_s} #{profile.last_name.to_s}"
diff --git a/spec/controllers/people_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/people_controller_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f0cea0279
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/controllers/people_controller_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../spec_helper'
+ 
+describe PeopleController do
+  render_views
+  before do
+    @user = Factory.create(:user, :profile => Profile.new( :first_name => "bob", :last_name => "smith"))
+    request.env['warden'] = mock_model(Warden, :authenticate? => @user, :authenticate! => @user, :authenticate => @user)
+
+    sign_in :user, @user   
+  end
+
+  it "index should yield search results for substring of person name" do
+    friend_one = Factory.create(:person)
+    friend_two = Factory.create(:person)
+    friend_three = Factory.create(:person)
+    friend_four = Factory.create(:person)
+
+    friend_one.profile.first_name = "Robert"
+    friend_one.profile.last_name = "Grimm"
+    friend_one.profile.save
+
+    friend_two.profile.first_name = "Eugene"
+    friend_two.profile.last_name = "Weinstein"
+    friend_two.save
+
+    friend_three.profile.first_name = "Yevgeniy"
+    friend_three.profile.last_name = "Dodis"
+    friend_three.save
+
+    friend_four.profile.first_name = "Casey"
+    friend_four.profile.last_name = "Grippi"
+    friend_four.save
+
+
+    puts Person.friends.count
+
+    get :index, :q => "Eu"
+
+
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_two).should == true
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_one).should == false
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_three).should == false
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_four).should == false
+
+    get :index, :q => "Wei"
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_two).should == true
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_one).should == false
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_three).should == false
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_four).should == false
+
+    get :index, :q => "Gri"
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_one).should == true
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_four).should == true
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_two).should == false
+    assigns[:people].include?(friend_three).should == false
+
+    get :index
+    assigns[:people].should == Person.friends.all
+  end
+
+end