The Case of Benjamin L. “B.L.” and Sadie Hoffman

When B.L. and Sadie Hoffman died, they left behind $400,000 in unclaimed Montana oil and gas royalties that no one knew existed. What began as a routine scan of a new state unclaimed property list quickly became one of the Heir Hunters’ most puzzling cross-country cases.A single notary stamp on a 1926 deed led the team from Montana to Kansas City, where they found the Jewish immigrant couple in the census. Their only son, Lester, later surfaced in Lufkin, Texas, until he vanished after 1940. A shocking 1962 Galveston newspaper clipping revealed Lester had died on a beach during a Fourth of July weekend, lying on a tombstone-shaped beach towel.With no biological children, the trail seemed headed back to relatives in Russia. But a "Find a Grave" entry and Lester’s death certificate uncovered his wife Billy and her daughter Carolyn Feazell. A dramatic courthouse affidavit in Angelina County confirmed Billy was the sole heir under Texas law.After repeated ignored letters and a doorstep “doorknock” in Lufkin, the team finally signed the heirs. Months later, they returned to personally hand checks to Carolyn’s four children; grandchildren by marriage to the glamorous salesman they remembered as a larger-than-life character.From Russian Jewish immigrants to a mysterious Montana land deal and a tragic beach death, this is the unforgettable case of B.L., Sadie, and Lester Hoffman.