Missing Money

Everyday, millions of dollars in missing money is found across the U.S. No, I'm not talking about money dropped in panic by fleeing bank thieves or contents of drunken pedestrians' wallets. The found money is actually escheat, or unclaimed property coming from lost assets like forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, stock dividends, unclaimed tax refunds and the like. People sometimes forget to leave a forwarding address when they move or get a new job and this often results in lost mail whose contents are sent back to sender.

You would think that in these times with unemployment rising and legions of homes getting foreclosed that people would be aware of lost money and most certainly come to claim it, but the missing money found by the individual state Treasury Departments still amount to millions. In Lousiana recently, almost $80,000 was returned to mall-goers after doing a free search for missing money in a booth set-up by the state government. And that was only in one day! According to State Treasurer John Kennedy, $20-$30 million in unclaimed funds are returned each year.

Scores of Americans are having serious financial trouble right now and have been forced to make lifestyle changes- moving closer to work, eating-out less, even trying to sell belongings. An unclaimed money search might just spell extra cash for unclaimed property owners who might not know that their missing money.

Even celebrities have unclaimed funds owed to them! Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Sean (Diddy) Combs, Bob Dylan, Mayor Bloomberg, even the Yankees and the Mets have turned up on a list of people owed missing money by New York! Maybe these people can hold-off on not claiming their lost assets, but with basic commodities and fuel prices skyrocketing and , can you? Search for missing money now!