Nothing really new to report in this peculiar case of lost heirs......just bringing it up because it will soon be 30 yrs. since Mr. Green passed on (4/24/78).

For a quick refresher, Walter "Curly" Green was a kind, if overly quiet resident of Omaha, Nebraska. Very little was known about his background/past. At the time of his death, he left a fortune in excess of $200,000 dollars--mostly in real estate, but also due to a valuable coin collection he kept. He left no will and next of kin have never been located.

This story made a big splash in the local paper and I emailed them two days ago, in the hopes that they will refocus on this case and do some sort of 'special report' or whatever sometime soon. Also interestingly enough, the Neb. State Treasurer's website, still maintains an unclaimed property entry for Mr. 'Walter C. Green', located in Douglas County (Omaha). The value is simply stated as 'over $100'.

Hard to believe a guy like him could just get lost in the shuffle and have no relatives anywhere.

Do any of you legal types know how long money is held? You would think after this long the state would just claim it. I'm glad they haven't, but how long will the money just sit there until claimed? Forever?

Under normal circumstances, I would think that the state would just absorb any unclaimed property after so long.......but with this being the largest unclaimed estate in Neb. history......I would think they would want to leave this open.

My guess is, this guy has no living next of kin. Any sort of relatives he does have living still would be more distant cousins/nieces/nephews, if that....

I contacted the researcher interviewed in the segement about 3 months ago and he told me that there had been no new developments in Mr. Green's case. He also mentioned that Curly had been orpahned and then adopted but that the adoption records were "missing". Likely as not, Curly's prodgeny is no longer able to be traced.

I even went so far as to search for the other names given in the segment in the census records for 1910 in the are where Curly said he grew up, nothing.

You know what always struck me about this case (I think it was this case - these lost heirs cases mix me up sometime) but half of the segment was devoted to Curly's unrequited love for Jessamine Rominger. Whats funny is they interviewed Jessamine's sister and she basically made her sister look like a real bitch for not reciprocating Curly's love. She basically said "Well Jessamine wanted better things in life than Curly" or something to that affect. Really didn't go out of her way to make her sister seem sympathetic.

Anyhow what amazes me is how common Curly's story is. I believe Curly served in World War I and when he returned home he found Jessamine had moved on and married someone else. Its amazing to me the amount of stories I hear very similar to this and how this just broke so many of the WWI vets emotionally. I can speak from some experience as this is exactly what happened to a relative on my dad's side of the family. Was deeply in love with a woman before WWI, basically the thought of returning home to her got him through the war...came back home and she had moved on and married another man.

Much like Curly he basically shut himself up in his house for the rest of his life, never married or even seriously dated anyone else and basically besides going to work everyday and making a living let it ruin him emotionally. Sad.

Pardon me for bumping up this one-year-old thread.

You know what always struck me about this case (I think it was this case - these lost heirs cases mix me up sometime) but half of the segment was devoted to Curly's unrequited love for Jessamine Rominger. Whats funny is they interviewed Jessamine's sister and she basically made her sister look like a real bitch for not reciprocating Curly's love. She basically said "Well Jessamine wanted better things in life than Curly" or something to that affect. Really didn't go out of her way to make her sister seem sympathetic.

I recall the part where Jessamyn's sister Catheryn commented on how Jessamyn liked Curly but "wanted other things out of life." However, if she had made Jessamyn look like "a real bitch," I don't believe it was intentional (unless the sisters had a falling out or something). I won't judge Jessamyn as such, since I don't have all the answers regarding the circumstances surrounding her failure (or refusal) to reciprocate Curly's love.

I speculate that Jessamyn's genuine love for Curly just wasn't there. However, the mystery about Curly's family could have been a contributing factor; Jessamyn may have had misgivings about establishing a permanent relationship with man who wouldn't talk much about his family. Again, this is all speculation on my part.

Anyhow what amazes me is how common Curly's story is. I believe Curly served in World War I and when he returned home he found Jessamine had moved on and married someone else. Its amazing to me the amount of stories I hear very similar to this and how this just broke so many of the WWI vets emotionally. I can speak from some experience as this is exactly what happened to a relative on my dad's side of the family. Was deeply in love with a woman before WWI, basically the thought of returning home to her got him through the war...came back home and she had moved on and married another man.

I'm very sorry to hear that someone on your father's side went through a similar heartache as Curly. To be far away from someone you're in love with is bad enough. But to arrive home and discover that the person married someone else? If that doesn't add insult to injury, nothing does. :(

I always found Curly's story to be a compelling one.

I thought it was humorous that he'd have a can of beans everyday for dinner and would heat it on a hot plate. He must've saved every penny he earned. Too bad he never enjoyed his money and now it's just floating around out there.

I always found Curly's story to be a compelling one.

It is undoubtedly a compelling story. But I will admit that when it comes to UM segments, the Walter 'Curly' Green story is one of my personal favorites.

To me, it is hard not to feel for Curly. He seemed to be the kind of man that many people could identify with, especially if they have experienced unrequited love as he did.

It is undoubtedly a compelling story. But I will admit that when it comes to UM segments, the Walter 'Curly' Green story is one of my personal favorites.

To me, it is hard not to feel for Curly. He seemed to be the kind of man that many people could identify with, especially if they have experienced unrequited love as he did.

Very true. A lot of people can identify with it and it's something that could make a pretty good story.

I find it compelling. However, I also am very very surprised that they never found an heir. I just think there's no incentive to find an heir except with justice junkies like me.

from the unsolved mysteries website, it seems they have a lot of information. Its just that no one is really looking for the guy.

100 years ago it was very easy to bury your past. Not anymore.

That Rockafeller guy did a good job of it but even his past was discovered after a few days.

Very true. A lot of people can identify with it and it's something that could make a pretty good story.

Definitely, and I'm glad that UM did that segment. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Curly segment is one of my personal favorites

I first saw that segment in 1989. But when I rewatched it on Lifetime a few years later, I began to feel that I could identify with Curly, mainly because of the fact that he experienced unrequited love. I went through that in high school. Of course, a lot of people have carried a torch for someone at one time or another.