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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1961)
Investigator Makes Living Locating Unsuspecting Heirs to Lost Estates T7nllt,inn,l (linn if ... .... . i'AGES 1 to 12 Hollywood -OJPD- If a man named Herb Saxton comes walking up to your house, don't slam the door in his face, He may simply want to give you $50,000. , That's the way Saxton mattes his living, and a good living it is-just telling unsus pecting persons they have had a large piece of. money dropped into their laps and all they have to do is reach down and pick it up. Saxton, who has spent 40 years In the investigation bus iness, began his full-time ca reer of searching out persons who were heirs to unclaimed estates in 1938. ' . "I do a lot of traveling," said Saxton. "At every place I stop I go to the court house and check on unclaimed es tates. There are always many, but I never touch one less than $10,000." He said that in many cases where a person dies without a will and his estate is handled by the public administrator, this administrator Hops nnt have the funds available or Is too overworked to run an ex tensive search for heirs. Once he has closed the case and it has been approved by the court, Saxton can step in. "There always is a time ele ment to find heirs to an es tate," he said. "This varies in different states. For example in California it is five years, in New York seven, and in Washington State 15. Then the estate goes to the state." Saxton said he always works alone. "Once in awhile I hire an investigator to check out some point in a case," he said, "but I make sure he does not know too much about what the case is." Saxton, although he lives in an apartment overlooking the center of Hollywood, main tains an office in Chicago. "All my mail regarding es tates comes and goes through Chicago," he said. "No matter where I am all my telephone calls are routed through that office so no one knows where I am talking from. That way no one can cut in on an estate after I've spent months or years working on it." Saxton said he tries to keep about 500 cases working at all times. Of these he solves an average of 10 a year. The veteran investigator, who served in naval intelli gence during World War I and as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Air Corps during World War II, said he always has a case almost completed before he contacts the heir. "Then I explain what my business is and ask a few sim ple questions. If these answers match what I already know, lve found my heir." How does Saxton make his money? "Once I've established an heir," he said, "I tell him how much the estate is worth. Then I ask him to sign an agreement giving me his pow er of attorney in the case and between a third and 50 per cent as my fee. Some Balk "Once in awhile they balk at first and demand to know why 1 should be cut in. Usu ally after 1 explain the work and expense I've put in, they see it my way. If not, I walk away. 1 know they could never find the estate. They generally call me." Saxton said one of the most interesting estate cases he has solved was that of a man who shipped out of Los Angeles Sept. 11, 1941, with a cou struction crew bound for Wake Island. His work appli cation showed only that he was married. When Wake fell to the Japanese he was taken prisoner. After he spent 44 months in a prison camp U.S. troops lib erated the camp. All of the prisoners rushed for trucks loaded with food as they en tered the camp and a case of canned peas fell on the luck less man's head, killing him. 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MATCHING S DRYER 178 Completely automatic . . . ju5t et it and forget it. 3 cycles, 6 drying temperature! dry any fabric ' safely. 10-lb. capacity. KENMORE ... by far Americo's largest selling home laundry appliance. Combination Washer and Dryer 269.95 1-YEAR GUARANTEE We will make necessary service adjustments, repair or replace, and install without cost to you any defec tive parts, excluding light bulbs, fuses and porce lained surfaces for 1 year from date of sale. feign - . L r 4 I 2 "Satisfaction guaranteed or your money hack" SEARS 501 E. Jackson SP 3 6661 Optn Mon. I Fri. 'Til 9 P.M. FREE PARKING "Many branches of the gov eminent, including the FBI, searched for his heirs," Sax ton said. "They were not suc cessful. I was asked to step into the case by a survivors' organization in Boise, Idaho. Divorced Wife "I was able to find that his wife had divorced him in De troit. This led me to the di vorced wife in Kentucky. She in turn, knew the names and "dresses of some of his fam- liy. On Nov. 10, mtifl. I tele graphed that 1 had located a sister in Mexico City, who spoke no English, and two sisters in Jacksonville, Fla.' Saxton says there are some persons who use possible heirs as a racket,. He said these are the persons who contact men and women and tell them it is believed they are heirs to a vast estate. Then they want a fee to help them prove it, "1 never take a fee in ad vance and only collect mine at the same time the heir gets his." General's Papers Now on Microfilm Boston -il'Pli- A microfilm edition of the papers of Gen. Henry Knox, one of George Washington's generals, h a s been announced by the Mas sachusetts Historical Society. The earliest entry Is dated 1791 and the latest 18:5. MEDF0RD tribune MEDKORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1961 East German Reds Using Doufae Talk there have grown different meanings, while the official double-talk of East German Frankfurt, Germany - ll'PD -East German Communists are gradually demolishing the last bulwark that unites the split halves of Germany-the Ger man language. German words here and Communist Parly officials has turned the language into what East Germans sarcastically ' call "parly Chinese." LOOK WHAT WE'RE AT GRANBV1EW! Extra Stamp5 With These GREAT SPECIALS! 50 EXTRA STAMPS Bisquicl y-.. G 25 EXTRA STAMPS With r Pancake Flour 55cm 12 QT. 50 EXTRA STAMPS With Borden's Starlac 95 50EXTRA STAMPS With Grandview's GUARANTEED MEATS 50 EXTRA STAMPS WITH ROGUE GOLD ' ' C 4 OO O B OQ 2 Lbs. 1 CHEESE 25 Lb. 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