STATE UNCLAIMED PROPERTY TOTALS $80 MILLION

About $80 million is up for grabs from a fund the state treasurer administers, but there are no numbers to match or tickets to scratch.

The money is from Missourians who have either died or forgotten about bank accounts, investments, safe deposit boxes, utility deposits and other money-oriented transactions. And the state treasurer's staff tries to find the rightful owner or the heirs.

Last year, treasurer's office staff members armed with portable computers visited county fairs and other festivals and matched owners or heirs to $2.7 million.

At the Sikeston Jaycees Bootheel Rodeo last week, staffers matched 15 people as potential recipients to some of the loot. After a match, a "claim for assets presumed abandoned" must be filled out and submitted to the Unclaimed Property Division of the state treasurer's office.

"There's a lot of paperwork -- such as affidavits and other things -- that people have to go through before a check is issued," said Joe Daues, a spokesman for the treasurer. "We absolutely make sure we are paying the right people. It will be awhile for people who matched last week to be processed."

Staffers opened more than 800 safe deposit boxes last year and collected a record $15 million in additional abandoned property.

Property is declared abandoned when the trustee, bank, utility or other entity that possesses money or property which rightfully belongs to a Missourian declares that it has gone unclaimed for seven years.

Daues said abandoned cash comes from forgotten bank accounts, insurance benefits, stock dividends, utility deposits and other places, such as safe deposit boxes. He said abandoned property -- excluding boats, land, cars, houses and other real property -- typically from safe deposit boxes is kept in a vault for a little over a year.

The vault is emptied and the contents are auctioned each year. The proceeds from each item are recorded and the money goes into the unclaimed property fund along with abandoned cash, Daues said. The state doesn't handle real property.

The money in the fund remains earmarked for the rightful owner. According to Missouri law, the money waits forever for either the owner or an heir to come forward.

Daues said money that was gaining interest when it was declared abandoned continues to gain interest in the fund. However, most of the money held by the state originally wasn't part of an interest-bearing account, he said.

"The state gets the interest on the rest," he said. "The lion's share of that money (interest on almost $80 million) goes into the general revenue fund. This is one of the few state programs that makes more money than it spends."

Staffers have found a variety of items in abandoned safe deposit boxes. Daues said the state has taken custody of undergarments, documents from the Pony Express, diamond rings, Civil War-era Colt revolvers, letters signed by Abraham Lincoln and $165,000 in cash and bonds.

After a year, the property is liquidated because the vault becomes full, he said. But items of historical significance typically are acquired by the state historical society.

The next auction is planned for March in Jefferson City.

*INFO BOX...* Those interested in checking for unclaimed property should send owners' names, addresses, Social Security numbers and previous addresses, if known, to the Missouri State Treasurer's Office, Unclaimed Property Division, P.O. Box 1004, Jefferson City, Mo., 65102-1004.