AREA RESIDENTS FIND MONEY WITH STATE TREASURER'S HELP

JACKSON -- Don Kling frowned at the tiny laptop computer screen as he punched its keys.

"You spell that with an `A'?" he said, glancing at the anxious woman in front of him.

She nodded.

Kling punched a few more keys. "Sorry," he said. "There's nothing here."

The woman picked up her purse and left. She wasn't one of the lucky ones who found unclaimed cash waiting in Jefferson City.

State Treasurer Bob Holden and an assistant, Kling, visited the Cape Girardeau County Administration Building Tuesday. With the help of County Treasurer Bill Reynolds, they invited area residents to find out if they had unclaimed money being held by the state.

The state treasurer's office must keep unclaimed money until someone comes forward and collects it. The treasurer takes control of the money when it has been abandoned for seven years.

"People move, get divorced, change their names," Holden said. "They may be owed a utility refund when they move, but the company can't find them."

The state has more than $80 million in unclaimed property -- most of it abandoned cash from bank accounts, stocks, bonds, uncollected insurance proceeds, government refunds and deposits. The state also opens about 600 abandoned safe deposit boxes each year and auctions off the contents when enough items are gathered for a sale.

About one in 12 Missourians has unclaimed cash, Holden said. More than $2.7 million was claimed just last year.

Several Cape Girardeau County residents may have struck it rich after visiting the mobile office Tuesday. Although Holden and Kling weren't specific with the amounts to be claimed -- they tell the actual amount after confirming the recipient's identity -- one woman may be receiving around $2,000.

"Through this program, we've given away everything from a penny to $500,000," Holden said. "We had several potential matches today with a sizable amount of money. One lady said this was better than having Santa come to see her."

Holden was sworn into his office in 1993 after serving three terms in the Missouri House of Representatives and also working for a prior state treasurer.

He said it was a longtime goal of his to open up the unclaimed property division and have a better relationship with the public.

"Much of the time, when people deal with government, it is a negative experience," Holden said. "For example, people have to pay their taxes."

Good advertising through local newspapers and television and radio stations brought about 100 people out for the event. Reynolds, the county treasurer, said they started doing the matches in his office, but had to move to the County Commission's chambers when the crowd grew.