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Dozens Of Vintage Vehicles From Buena Park Man's Estate Up For Auction

ORANGE (CBSLA.com) — Dozens of vintage vehicles from a Buena Park man's estate are expected to be auctioned off in Santa Ana.

"The coroner's office said, 'Hey, guy died and we don't have any heirs," said Chief Deputy Public Administrator Elizabeth Henderson, who explains they've never received so many cars from one estate.

Most of the 72 cars and trucks appear to be from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s and range in models from Chevy to Ford and Mercedes-Benz to Volkswagen.

The vehicles were collected by Buena Park resident Gerald Willits, who died last year at 76 of coronary artery disease.

The Public Administrator Division of the Orange County District Attorney's Office believes he may have been a plumber.

"We think. I mean, we have a truck here which says 'Willits and Groffs Plumbing,' " Henderson said.

Henderson says the details about Willits and his heirs were a mystery until a search of a Model A.

"There's actually a trunk in the back, kind of like a trunk with a lid and it was full of papers and trash and in there was will No.1 ," she said.

Willits left everything to his parents, who are now long dead. He had a daughter whom he disinherited along with all her kin.

"He took his daughter out of the will entirely. He disinherited her and all her children," Henderson said.

Investigators say they're looking for heirs, though they say Willits' daughter has retained an attorney and has filed for heirship.

The auction starts at 10 a.m. Tuesday with gates opening at 8 a.m. in Santa Ana.

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