$40,000 Found Stashed in a Thrift Store Couch

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An old couch for $20 seems like a pretty good deal. It’s an even bigger score when it comes stuffed with more than $40,000 in cash.

Three college roommates in New York bought a used sofa for $20 at a Salvation Army store. It was ugly and not very comfortable, like many thrift store couches, but what made it unique was its contents. According to WAVC-TV in New York:

For a couple of months it just sat there in the tiny apartment, until Reese Werkhoven decided to find out why it was so lumpy.

“There’s a zipper on the bottom, and he pulled out a bag, and we said it’s either drugs or money, and we freak out and it’s a stack of 100s and 50s,” said student Lara Russo.

Those $100 and $50 bills added up to more than $40,000 – money the college roommates really could have used. But within the piles of cash, the roommates found a deposit slip. Sure, some people would have tossed the deposit slip in the garbage without a second thought.

But not these college friends. The Consumerist said:

“We were always pretty clear, if we could find her and she was alive, it was her money, no matter what the circumstances,” one roommate said of the name on the slip.

When they managed to track down the money’s owner, they found she’s a 91-year-old widow with a recently broken hip who has a distrust for banks. Her kids had donated the couch while she was in the hospital and didn’t realize it was flush with cash.

So the woman has her cash back. And the college roommates have a less lumpy couch and can feel good about themselves.

Would you have returned the cash to its rightful owner? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.

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