'I thought it was a scam, but I actually inherited a stranger's £400k estate'

When retired cabin crew Raymond Barry Howson died alone at the age of 85, he had no known next of kin and no will.

He left a valuable estate worth in excess of £400,000 and seemingly no one to inherit it.

But it was quickly established that Raymond, who was born in Altrincham, had never married or had any children.

For much of his life, Raymond had worked as an airline cabin crew and owned a two-bedroom flat on St. Margaret’s Road, Twickenham.

Finders International, an agent which helps find missing beneficiaries, was tasked with finding possible relatives entitled to inherit his valuable estate following his death in September 2021.

That’s when Lorraine Gesell, 60, who lives in Canada, was contacted by Finders International as an heir to Raymond’s sizeable estate.

“Lorraine’s late mother emigrated from Ellesmere Port, near Chester and Liverpool to Canada in 1951, was identified as a first cousin of Raymond.

Lorraine’s maternal grandfather, George Moores and Raymond’s mum, Lena Moores, were siblings.

“In this day and age there are so many scams going around that I was very wary when Finders International first contacted me,” Lorraine said.

“My son, in particular, was very suspicious. I mean it does sound incredible – ‘someone you never knew has died and you’re entitled to an inheritance’. It sounds like a fairy-tale.

“However, the researchers at Finders were very good. They providing me with details about my extended family and of course there was never a request for money, so it did make sense to me.”

‘My mother, who died in 1999, was a first cousin of Raymond. I didn’t know Raymond, I never heard of him. It’s quite remarkable how Finders International tracked me down to Mission, British Colombia. Other than