That does not mean that the state must prove the identity of any specific owner; its evidence, however, must be sufficient to allow the jury to find that the property at issue is not abandoned. That is because "[a]bandoned property is that of which the owner has relinquished all right, title, claim, and possession, with the intention of not reclaiming it or resuming its ownership, possession or enjoyment." Jackson v. Steinberg , 186 Or. 129, 134, 200 P.2d 376 (1948), reh'g. den. , 186 Or. 129, 205 P.2d 562 (1949).
Campbell v. Cochran, 416 A.2d at 221. See Favorite v. Miller, 176 Conn. 310, 407 A.2d 974 (1978); Paset v. Old Orchard Bank Trust Co., 62 Ill. App.3d 534, 19 Ill.Dec. 389, 378 N.E.2d 1264 (1978); Jackson v. Steinberg, 186 Or. 129, 200 P.2d 376 (1948). Thus, the burden upon the landlords was to prove that Fuentes voluntarily relinquished his right to the money with the intention of terminating his ownership and of not reclaiming any future rights therein at the time he was removed from his apartment suffering from a debilitating case of bullet wounds in his neck and shoulder.
Eldridge asked the court to find the money was not "lost property" within the meaning of chapter 644. Property is lost when the owner involuntarily and unintentionally parts with its possession and does not know where it is. Flood v. City National Bank, 218 Iowa 898, 902-05, 253 N.W. 503, 512-13 (1934); Paset v. Old Orchard Bank Trust Co., 62 Ill. App.3d 534, 537, 387 N.E.2d 1264, 1268, 19 Ill.Dec. 389, 393 (1978); Jackson v. Steinberg, 186 Or. 129, 133, 200 P.2d 376, 377 (1948), rehearing denied, 186 Or. 140, 205 P.2d 562 (1949); Schley v. Couch, 155 Tex. 195, 199, 284 S.W.2d 333, 335 (1955). In Flood, this court held that money which was stolen from a bank and found in a rubbish heap near a roadside less than three hours later met the definition of lost property.
Abandoned property then is property over which the owner has relinquished all right, title, claim, and possession with the intention of not reclaiming it or resuming its ownership, possession or enjoyment. Jackson v. Steinberg (1949), 186 Ore. 129, 205 P.2d 562. The General Assembly enacted R.C. 4513.60 through 4513.63 in order to provide law enforcement agencies with a procedure for dealing with vehicles which are abandoned on public or private property.