Learn English – Single word meaning one who searches

I'm looking for a single word in English that means something akin to "one who searches" or "one who searches for meaning." I am hoping for a rustic/obscure word (not a commonly used word), but not a word that's tricky to pronounce.

It could be a verb as in 'searching for meaning' in hard circumstances, for example:

She _____ after her son's death.

or it could be a noun, as in 'one who searches for anything/everything' as in:

If she wasn't searching for the meaning of life, then she was searching for the answer to why we look away from the poor, or why lovers break up, or even why one of her old socks always disappeared in the dryer. Yes, indeed, she was a ____.

(Okay that example is hockey, but you get my drift….)