Iowa officials fear that some former public employees may have thought checks for returned pension contributions were junk mail.

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More than 7,000 of the 45,000 checks mailed out earlier this year were not cashed within six months. The Iowa Public Employees Retirement System returned contributions to people who had not contributed in at least five years and had balances of less than $3,000.

A follow-up letter sent Nov. 21 telling beneficiaries how to request a replacement check has brought in more than 800 responses so far, the Des Moines Register reported.

Julie Economaki, the system's legislative liaison, said that some people who got checks said that they simply put them aside and forgot them.

"Why people hang on to checks for six months, I don't know," she said.