$2.8 million in assets waiting to be claimed

Nearly $2.8 million in assets belonging to Bartholomew County residents can be reclaimed by searching a website that links property with its rightful owners.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is encouraging residents to visit the website, indianaunclaimed.com, to find out if they have investment earnings, savings accounts or other proceeds they have forgotten about.

Some property owners, including businesses and government agencies, already have discovered their unclaimed property.

The Columbus Indiana Economic Board found out it has $3,000 in a PNC Bank account after a community resident alerted the board’s office.

The Columbus Fire Department is owed $211.13 in insurance benefits from WellPoint Inc. from when the department still operated its Medic 1 ambulance, which ended in 2006.

Fire Chief Joel Thacker said the department’s administrative assistants discovered the property and the department is seeking to claim it.

“It’s good everyone is working to make sure the city is getting the money it is owed,” Thacker said.

Financial institutions and other holders are required annually to turn over the assets of accounts in which there has been no activity for 25 years. In 2011, more than 7,500 properties in Bartholomew County worth more than $857,000 added to the total amount of unclaimed property locally.

Nearly all of the property is cash. Less than 1 percent of the unclaimed assets are tangible, physical items; and abandoned vehicles or real estate are not included.

Across central Indiana, nearly $119.6 million in unclaimed property is being held by the state attorney general’s office.

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