In 1977, my father was buying a house and entered into a contract for deed. When the house was fully paid for, the sellers disappeared with the actual deed. Now that the sellers have passed away, their children have shown up and told my father to get out, that it was their home, since they retained the deed. They were promptly told to get lost. We tried to contact the attorney that handled everything, but he has also since passed away, and his wife threw out all his papers. What can we do to get the deed?

Also I forgot to mention, my father has paid the property taxes and everything else for this home since 1977. We have the property tax papers stating that he has paid the bills, and the contract for deed was filed with the County Clerk of Courts in 1977.