FORT MYERS, FL -- Companies turn over unclaimed money and property to the state of Florida after five years.

That money comes from everything from old bank accounts and unclaimed insurance proceeds to abandoned safe deposit boxes.

We went searching for some of the 8 point 8 million accounts but we finding the owners isn't easy.

Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida Alex Sink is in charge of the state's unclaimed property. She says her office is holding property from all the way back in the 1960s.

Her office works hard to find people using the Internet to track people down and notify them.

"Oh no its certainly not easy," SINK told CALL FOR ACTION, "In a state like Florida, people move around a lot. Sometimes this property belongs to people who are deceased."

In this poor economy, they're seeing more people come forward on their own.

"When times get tough I always say you got to look under the sofa to see if you can find extra pennies and dimes and nickels and quarters and people are. They're searching everywhere and I run into people all the time who've gotten 3 or 4 or 500 dollars back. Sometimes thousands of dollars back," said Sink.

CALL FOR ACTION tried to find 13 people. We were only able to locate Gene Littlestone.

Gene had completely forgotten about the nationwide insurance policy that owes him a 562 dollar refund.

We helped him and his wife go on-line and fill out the information they need to claim their money.

While they were filling out the information, they found other family members with unclaimed property.


Gene says he'll put the money to good use, "Maybe some new school clothes. Pay for the vacation we just took."

In this economy, every little bit counts.

"I'd rather have it than them, " said Littlestone.

In Florida there is no deadline for you to claim your money.

But the state invests the money and uses the interest to fund education until you do claim it.

Find a link to searching for unclaimed property in Florida and across the United States in the related content box at the top left of this page.

You can type in your name --and it will let you know if the state is holding anything for you.

Don't just check your name.

Make sure you also check family members both living and deceased.

They may also have money waiting for them.