5 on Your Side helps Cary man find ‘missing' money

Phone calls from strangers are seldom a good thing, but Curt McDuffee was happy he answered a call from 5 on Your Side.

Posted 9:00 p.m. Jul 29, 2008 — Updated 2:17 a.m. Jul 30, 2008

CARY, N.C. — Phone calls from strangers are seldom a good thing, but Curt McDuffee was happy he answered a call from 5 on Your Side.

McDuffee is one of about a million people who have unclaimed money waiting at the State Treasurer’s Unclaimed Property Division.

WRAL found money that McDuffee did not know about and gave him a call.

“I was a little unsure,” he said. “It sounded exciting. I thought, 'Well, maybe, maybe this is going to allow me to retire early.'”

McDuffee’s $1,365 is not enough to retire, but the unexpected money is nice to have, he said.

The money is a refund for an overpayment from when his mother, June McDuffee, was in a hospital. She died six years ago at the age of 86.

“We enjoyed having her here. She enjoyed being here with her grandchildren and her children. She just was a wonderful mother who was very generous in every way with her children,” McDuffee said.

He said his mother would be thrilled that there is some extra money for her family.

“After we get it, I'll split it with my brother, and I'll take my lovely wife out to dinner with part of it, and we're planning to donate the rest of it to our church,” he said.

McDuffee’s money brings the total found by 5 on Your Side to more than $249,000. To see if you have unclaimed money, click here, or call the Treasurer’s Office at 919-508-1000.

The treasurer’s office has a small staff to handle the requests, so it could take five or six months for someone to get his or her money once the proper paperwork is completed.

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