Woman dies in homeless shelter without knowing she had an inheritance of nearly $ 900,000 that justice was seeking to hand over to her

Cathy Boone died in the street, without a home or money, and totally unaware that she was the heir to a small fortune that would have facilitated her last days, even could have saved her from death.

Cathy lived in Astoria, a city in the state of Oregon in the United States, during her life she struggled with mental health and addiction issues. He died at 49 in January 2020, without claiming the nearly 900 thousand dollars that the state had saved on his behalf.

“It just didn’t make sense to me. That money was there, and she needed help, ” Jack Spithill, Boone’s father told local media.

“She had a difficult life, but when she was good she was really good”, Spithill explained.

Boone was a regular at the Astoria Warming Shelter, a place for the homeless. Unlike most visitors who slept in his clothes, Boone went the extra mile to put on his pajamas at night, his friends explained.

“She was a special person as far as I was concerned”, recalls Donny Holder, who often shared cigarettes and coffee with Boone at McDonald’s and always carries pictures of her wrapped in a ziplock bag in her coat pocket. “I fell in love with her.”

Friends and acquaintances said they had no idea Boone had any money available for her. He struggled to survive, like many others who lived homeless in a harsh outdoor environment.

Catherine Boone, known to her friends as Cathy, grew up in the Portland area. Her parents separated when she was young. Her father, who remarried and lives in Texas, tried to keep in touch with his daughter.

“I attribute most of it to drugs, but I think she had some mental health issues as well and the combination of the two didn’t work out very well for her.” Spithill explained.

For several years, Boone volunteered with the nonprofit organization Sisters of the Road Café in downtown Portland before moving to Astoria, where her mother lived. In 2016, Boone’s mother, Patricia Lupton, passed away. According to her father, it was decisive for Cathy to fall back into drug addiction.

Court records show that after his mother’s death, a lawyer and a personal representative assigned to his mother’s estate attempted to locate Boone. They ran ads in the local newspaper, texted him on Facebook, emailed family members, and attempted to reach Boone by phone. A private investigator hired to find Boone was also unsuccessful.

In July 2019, A Clatsop County judge ordered that $ 884,407 of the estate’s assets be sent to the State Department of Lands, who handles unclaimed money, when heirs cannot be located or refuse payment.

It’s unclear if Boone ever knew the money was his or figured out how to get it.

“I don’t think she would approach them on her own, but there were enough people who could have helped her.”Cathy’s father said.

“I think it was due to my inability to recognize her mental health issues. I gave her up because of the drugs and I shouldn’t have Spithill added in tears to channel KHOU 11.

On January 13, 2020, Boone experienced breathing problems while staying at the Astoria Warming Shelter. An ambulance rushed her to St. Vincent Hospital in Portland, where she later died.

In October, Oregon State Department of Lands paid $ 884,000 to legal guardian of Cathy Boone’s estate. Court records indicate that he is working to identify everyone who could claim the money, including his two biological children.

The Oregon State Department of Lands is not responsible for finding known heirs. Instead, the state agency is required to withhold the money until the person entitled to it comes forward.

“Considering a year and a half of effort by the personal representative and attorney for this particular property, there really isn’t much more the state can do,” explained Claudia Ciobanu, manager of unclaimed property for Oregon State Lands.

Ciobanu said the money was waiting for Boone before he died. She just needed to claim it.

“This is a unique case and we are in solidarity with the family”, Ciobanu explained.

Cathy’s story shows the hardships that come with mental health and addiction issues and how thousands of homeless people like her get lost in the system with little help.

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