Concerning Dick's possessions, etc., I asked Pete and Grace Kraemer, both folkies and lawyers, about it, and here's Pete's response:

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The probate court will decide on the disposition of Dick's possessions and life insurance, etc. I suspect they will appoint a trustee, some sort of magistrate, I think, to be the person of record.

In the meanwhile, his possessions may be in jeopardy. If he can, the landlord will take possession of the apartment since the lessee, Dick, is deceased. To do so in Montgomery County will require petitioning the court for repossession. Then what happens to the possessions I don't know: he can't put them out on the curb, like if someone abandoned the apartment since the articles there are in trust to the probate executor. (That's what I remember of the matter.)

If people are concerned, and I think we really should be, we need to contact the probate court. I think someone would have to ask the court to let them represent unknown decedents or survivors (Dick's missing sister.) Then work with the probate executor to either find someone who does stand to inherit Dick's stuff, or have the county sheriff hold an auction of the stuff to pay for rent on the apartment that the landlord can't collect while this is in progress, the cost of the probate itself, including looking for the surviving sister, or her offspring. The sale/auction is where people who want stuff can make offers to buy it.

Dick, like everyone had debts, bills on the dining table he was going to take care of, and that sort of thing. The probate court has to settle those affairs out of the sale, unless a surviving descendant is found.