Cash found in New Orleans
This is the type of story you would like to see in the headline news regularly. A young woman doing a good deed has found cash.
Trista Wright was spending her spring break helping others by cleaning out hurricane-damaged homes when she discovered some unusual papers among the debris.
She started raking the unusual papers out of the air conditioner vent. Looking at it she thought it was garbage and decided to shovel it up, changed her mind and bent down to pick it up. Upon further inspection she discovered it was a stack of $100 bills; and then more and more kept coming. The unofficial count puts the cash at more than $30,000.
Trista, being honest, informed fellow students and notified the organizers of the church mission, who informed authorities.
Haley Barton, a fellow student who was with Trista said there was never a question of keeping the money. Haley also added, “I think that it’s expected of us as young people, or people of any age this day, to go in and take it and not be faithful or trustworthy in turning it in, but that wasn’t even an option for us”.
The woman who owned the house, and has asked that she not be identified, was as shocked as Trista had been.
Deputy Gary Adams verified the identity of the woman who owned the home. He said it’s not uncommon to find weapons or medications behind the walls of homes, but this was the biggest sum of hidden money he had heard of. He also added that it’s good to see someone find something like that and turn it over to proper authorities and the rightful owner.
The homeowner said she suspects the money belonged to her father, who was wary of banks having grown up during the Depression. It is guessed that he did not tell anyone in the family about it before he died.
The one-story house was flooded to the eaves by Katrina and, aside from the hidden money, none of its contents could be saved, church officials said.
In keeping with all the positive sides to this story, to see that woman’s face when she was told about the money, made all the hard work worthwhile per the Rev. Warren Jones Jr. of New Salem Baptist Church in the Ninth Ward, which has served as a base for church missions.
The homeowner said it was a miracle. And when you think about it, it was.
Perhaps you have a relative that did use banks, yet forgot to tell you about an account or safe deposit box. What has become of the account or contents of the box? This is money and unclaimed property that will be turned over to the state as abandoned property. By visiting www.CashUnclaimed.com you can do a free money search in the relative’s name. This site provides you with a search of all state and federal databases for one quick any easy discovery of funds and how to claim them.