SPRINGFIELD – November 10, 2014 – Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford is encouraging veterans and their families to search for unclaimed war medals and military items. Operation Reunite researches the names from safe deposit boxes that were transferred to the treasurer’s office with military medals, ribbons, paperwork and more. “I am delighted that we have reunited families with these priceless heirlooms during the course of my administration through Operation Reunite,” said Treasurer Rutherford. “I hope that this reminder on Veterans Day brings attention to other medals that we still have in our custody.” The Capitol vault currently holds 120 military medals.
“Veterans deserve honor every day, but especially on Veterans Day, and the best effort I can make is to do everything I can to reunite military memorabilia with those who deserve it,” said Treasurer Rutherford. “I had the heartwarming opportunity during my term to reunite two Purple Hearts to the daughter of a soldier, and to return a Bronze Star to a Southern Illinois veteran, as well as other medals to those who earned them.”
The current list of Operation Reunite names is available at www.treasurer.il.gov. Simply click on the Operation Reunite banner, and scroll down to see the list of names of people for whom the contents of safe deposit boxes have been transferred to the treasurer’s office.
Additionally, Treasurer Rutherford is reminding officials in The American Legion Posts and Auxiliary Units to check the I-Cash database to determine if their unit or auxiliary has unclaimed money. The Treasurer worked with The American Legion-Department of Illinois during his term in office to discover $88,058.43 in unclaimed money. “I hope that in addition to looking for medals that we are holding in our Operation Reunite program, that each veteran will take a moment today to see if we are holding any cash or other valuable items for them or their families.”
The I-Cash program helps reunite owners with their unclaimed property. The Unclaimed Property Division has $2.1 billion in cash, plus contents from Illinois safe deposit boxes that have been inactive for at least five years. The costs associated with the Unclaimed Property Division, including staff, computers and travel, are paid for through the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund, and not by tax dollars.
To find out if you have unclaimed property through I-Cash, please visit the treasurer’s website at www.treasurer.il.gov and follow the I-Cash link. The website is updated weekly to reflect new properties remitted to the office. Additionally, our I-Cash team conducts regular outreach across the state, places twice-annual notices in newspapers and sends direct mail to new claimants with property worth more than $100. One can contact the Unclaimed Property Division by calling 217-785-6998 or emailing [email protected], although searches cannot be completed by telephone.
