MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - For the second year in a row, the State Treasurer's office returned a record amount of unclaimed property to its rightful owners in 2011.
Treasurer Kurt Schuller said almost $34 million of forgotten stocks, bank accounts, and similar items were returned. That's just over $1 million more than the previous year.
The state treasurer has a Web site that lists the names of those with unclaimed property. But last month, Schuller's staff caught an unusually large amount of unclaimed municipal bonds -- almost a quarter-million-dollars worth.
They also used Facebook to track down the 81-year-old owner from La Crosse. She said she didn't realize that her late husband owned the bonds.
Schuller says other items often get unclaimed when people move -- and businesses or old employers are not sure how to contact them.
The treasurer says the amount of unclaimed property keeps growing, depsite the larger amounts given back. His office now has about $411 million of items in safe-keeping.
