Search the
Unclaimed Property
Database
The Office of State Treasurer Sarah Steelman
administers the Unclaimed Property Division, the state’s largest lost and
found. The state currently is holding more than $400 million in unclaimed
assets. Each year financial institutions, businesses, government agencies and
other organizations turn over millions of additional dollars and the contents
of nearly 500 safe deposit boxes to the Unclaimed Property Division.
Statistically, one of every 10 Missourians has assets being held by the state's
Unclaimed Property Division.
State Treasurer Steelman and the staff of the Unclaimed Property
Division use a variety of resources to assist in finding the original owners or
rightful heirs of unclaimed property. The Unclaimed Property Division
maintains unclaimed funds in trust for the rightful owners or their legal heirs
forever. Unclaimed property never becomes the property of the State of
Missouri.
The Unclaimed Property Division holds the contents of abandoned
safe deposit boxes for at least one year upon receipt. Silver bars, false
teeth, diamond rings, cremated remains, letters signed by Abraham Lincoln and
many other treasures have been discovered when opening abandoned safe deposit
boxes.
Although State Treasurer Steelman would like to keep the contents of safe
deposit boxes until an owner or heir is identified, the unclaimed property
vault used to store non-monetary items of value (jewelry, coins, etc.) reaches
capacity every couple of years. When the vault is full, the Unclaimed Property
Division hosts an auction, and the proceeds generated from the sale of items
from safe deposit boxes is recorded in the name of the safe deposit box owner.
If owners or heirs are identified, they receive the entire proceeds from the
sale of the items.
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