The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office is searching for tens of thousands of southern Illinois residents who have unclaimed property, including many in the listening audience.  Through the I-Cash program, the treasurer’s office safeguards more than $2.1 billion in unclaimed property belonging to millions of Illinois residents.  Hundreds of thousands of new properties have been reported in recent months, including lost bank accounts, insurance policy proceeds, and utility refunds.  Those new reports bring the total available to be claimed by residents of southern Illinois to $42,461,904 from 257,194 properties as of January.  All Illinoisans are encouraged to visit illinoistreasurer.gov to search for property and initiate a claim in as little as three minutes.  Once the claim is filed with proof of ownership, individuals will receive their property in as little as three weeks. Last year, the average amount returned was $1,000.  Property waiting to be claimed as of January 1, 2015 includes $674,902 in Washington County among 4,654 residents.  It’s just over $1 million in Clinton County through 9,474 residents, just over $2.5 million in Jefferson County among 15,771 residents, just over $3.3 million in Marion County among 18,662 residents, and over $1.1 million in Perry County through 7,358 residents.