138

Whenever the administrator or the attorney in fact of the absentee shall present to the Court of First Instance a petition made under oath that, according to his knowledge and belief, nothing has been known or heard of the absentee during a period of ten years since his disappearance and that he has no known heirs residing in Puerto Rico; or when such facts regarding the absentee are known to the Court of First Instance or are duly and satisfactorily proven by any other person than the said administrator or attorney in fact, the Court of First Instance shall, in either case, order the sale of the property and effects of the absentee, the proceeds of the same to be paid into the Treasury of Puerto Rico, in the same manner and under the same conditions as the law provides in cases of vacant successions. History —Civil Code, 1930, § 39.