The Mystery of the Millionaire Hermit

He spent years scrimping and saving. But without a will, where’s his money going?

Many counties in the U.S. have public administrators, though a lot of people don’t know they exist. They operate within the murky ecosystem of public agencies and private businesses that kick into gear when someone dies: locksmiths, biohazard and trauma cleanup services, trash haulers, auctioneers, real estate agents, courts, attorneys, and banks. Tisserand and Rodrigue were in Brown’s house to locate his will and heirs, which can be difficult when people die alone. They would also oversee his estate. Even a simple death, something peaceful in your sleep, requires the assistance of an awful lot of people. 

 

 

Public administrators in California usually report to the district attorney’s office, the sheriff, or some other county agency. Only a few, such as Rodrigue, head standalone departments. She has dark hair and deep-set brown eyes that serve as a barometer of her mood. “Yes! You Can!” is one of several inspirational sayings scrawled on her office’s dry-erase board, near a sign that reads “Boss Lady.” Rodrigue was appointed public administrator of Tehama County in 2012 after having a similar job in a nearby county. Tisserand, a no-nonsense former legal secretary with frosted hair and a soft spot for animals, works as one of her three deputies. They get along well. Sometimes they call each other by the nicknames El Capitan and Cash Money. uncover rolls of cash that had been stuffed in medicine bottles. Another colleague with them that day, who busted open a locked trunk, is now known as the Hammer.

Upon receiving Brown’s case from the coroner, Rodrigue and Tisserand took their usual first step of arranging for a locksmith to meet them at the house; changing the locks lets them take control of the property and ward off squatters. They rerouted Brown’s mail to their office, since a get-well card or bank statement could provide valuable information about relatives and assets. Then they began their search.

 

Sometimes the valuables they find are dangerous, such as the time they stumbled upon $15,000 worth of handguns and rifles, most of them loaded. But there are very few surprise treasures—sometimes there are even debts. If an estate is in the black at the close of an investigation, the public administrator takes a cut as payment: 4 percent of the first $100,000, 3 percent of the second $100,000, 2 percent of the next $800,000, 1 percent of the next $9 million, and 0.5 percent of the next $15 million. If an estate has more than $25 million, a court determines the fee. County attorneys are paid according to the same structure. 

The blood from his broken nose hitting sink, covering the bathroom floor didn’t faze them; death can be messy, and they routinely call in cleaning crews that specialize in crime scenes. But what they encountered in the two bedrooms really threw them off. Brown didn’t have a bed, just a foam bedroll tucked into the corner of one bedroom and a military duffel containing an old uniform and medals. The next bedroom was also strange—it only had a metal filing cabinet. When they opened it, “we were just blown away,” says Tisserand, who became the lead investigator on the case. It appeared Brown had been a wealthy man.

“Every time I hear about somebody that has millions and millions but they lived a frugal life, I go, ‘Why? Have some fun’”