Sister Greets Homeless Man Seeking Inheritance

Steven Kent, who has spent 20 years homeless on the streets of Long Beach, arrived Saturday in Ohio to be reunited with his sister and collect an inheritance.

“It is nice seeing her again. . . . I missed her,” Kent said. “We talked about old times and how she has been fixing up the place.”

Bonnie White picked Kent up Saturday morning at a Mansfield bus station and drove him to their childhood home, where she still lives in this small town about 60 miles northwest of Columbus.

Police tracked Kent down after his sister reported him missing in January. White said she needed to reach her brother to settle the estate of her father, Dewey Kent Jr., who died in October 1998. Last week, officials said he would inherit about $300,000.

Long Beach Police Cpl. Ron Quarn, a bicycle patrolman who had cited Kent about 75 times for minor offenses, found him in an alley where he was known to sleep. On Wednesday night, Kent began a 2 1/2-day bus trip to Ohio.

White said they have an appointment to settle the estate Monday, but she said seeing her brother is most important.

“It never was about the money,” she said. “It has been two years and I just wanted closure.”

Kent, 45, said he went to Long Beach for the weather but that he looks forward to Sulphur Springs’ peace and quiet.

White said she and Kent spent the day reminiscing about growing up in the area and they planned to play badminton and have a barbecue.

“I was so excited to see Steven I couldn’t sleep the night before,” she said.

Kent said he doesn’t have any plans for spending the inheritance.

“I will probably put it into a bank,” he said.

He said he plans to visit friends and possibly attend a fair this weekend in the nearby town of Bucyrus.