The case of the public's missing money will go unsolved in Adams County.

District Attorney Don Quick announced Tuesday that he will not file criminal charges following his office's investigation into how $3,000 went missing from the public trustee's office.

Adams County Public Trustee Jeannie Reeser requested the investigation in early December after a review by her office determined that the money appeared to be missing.

At the time, Reeser, whose office processes property foreclosures, would not say how much money was involved, but said it was enough to warrant requesting an investigation. The problem was discovered through routine bookkeeping, she said.

Her office had received the $3,000 as proceeds from a sale and Reeser had believed it was deposited in a Brighton Wells Fargo bank on Oct. 26, assistant district attorney Michael Goodbee explained Tuesday. When she discovered the money was missing, she contacted the bank and requested an investigation into the possibility the bank had lost the money, he said.

Since then, in addition to requesting the district attorney's investigation, she has also analyzed her internal procedures and made necessary changes, Goodbee said.

A district attorney's investigator worked with Broomfield Police to interview public trustee employees as well as a bank teller.

"At the conclusion of the investigation, the district attorney could not identify who had taken the money or where it had gone," Goodbee said. "Due to procedures in place at the time in the public trustee's office, it was impossible to make those determinations. The procedures have since been modified."

Reeser did not return a call for comment Tuesday.

The investigation marks the second probe in four years involving funds in the Adams County public trustee's office.

In January 2002, Gov. Bill Owens removed then-Public Trustee Gwendolyn Kerr from office after allegations were raised concerning checks she wrote to herself from a public fund. The governor is responsible for the appointment of trustees in 10 Colorado counties, including Adams.

Kerr pleaded guilty, and in December 2002 avoided jail by agreeing to repay $28,434. At the time, her lawyer said the 63-year-old Kerr had embezzled the money to help finance a gambling addiction.

Reeser took over the trustee's office three years ago. It oversees sales of foreclosed property and handles money from people seeking to redeem their property.

Source: Rocky Mountain News