Officials: State worker linked to car titles on unpaid leave

SPRINGFIELD -- An Illinois Secretary of State employee is on unpaid leave while investigators unravel why uncashed checks, car titles and other documents were found in her former storage locker.

Auctioneer John Adams found the items in a Springfield storage locker last month, after he had bought the unit's contents.

Adams says he found a folder with 33 car titles and $7,000 in checks made out last year to the Secretary of State. There also were death certificates, applications for disabled parking stickers and license plate applications.

Included with the titles were addresses, telephone numbers, medical histories, death certificates, Social Security numbers and more.

Adams turned over the items to the state the next day.