Couple finds US$13 000 in garbage, hands it in to police

AN astonished couple could not believe their eyes when they found US$13 000 stuffed in a bag left on top of a garbage can.

But instead of taking the unclaimed cash home, the selfless pair from Tennessee, US, did all they could to find the owner - and when that failed, handed it in to police.

Kristy Allen spotted the blue bag while waiting for her husband Ken in the car outside a grocery store.

She pointed it out to him when he came out, and told him to grab it because it looked suspicious.

Mr Allen (49) told ABC News: "I brought it to the car, and when we opened it we saw hundreds of hundred-dollar bills, at which point my wife said, ‘Lock the door'!"

They called all the numbers they found in a wallet, but to no avail.

Undeterred, they then headed to the the address given on the driver's licence - but no one was home, and neighbours said they had never seen the man in the photo.

They gave up and locked the bag in their safe, then took it to the police the next morning.

The police inventoried the money and found a total of US$12 764.73 (£8 190). After checking surveillance video, they determined the bag had sat in front of the convenience store for about 45 minutes before the Allens had noticed it.

Mr Allen, a high school maths teacher, said he never thought about keeping the money.

"We were meant to find it," he said.

"Most other people would throw a big party. The only reason we were able to do the right thing is because my wife doesn't miss anything. Once we found the wallet, we knew we had a way to find him, so it wasn't our money to keep. If there hadn't been a wallet . . . maybe. But my wife told me from the beginning we had to give it back."

The owner of the bag, a 51-year-old man, has since reached out to the couple to thank them. He was in the hospital after having a bad reaction to medication when he got the news somebody had found the bag.

"When he called, I asked, ‘Dude, why did you have so much money'?" added Mr Allen.

"He didn't really explain that, but he did say he was very grateful to have it back, and was glad we were the ones who found it." 

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