sack of cash
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
February 9, 2023 ·  5 min read

“It Didn’t Belong To Me”: Woman Finds $15K In Cash, Immediately Turns In Life-Changing Money

Honesty is a virtue, but in the modern world, how many of us follow through on that? With an ever-growing population under the poverty line, it would seem far more feasible to steal, lie, and hoard money rather than be honest about it. But this doesn’t apply to Diane Gordon, who believes in being honest out and out. This woman has a specific routine that she adheres to, and it doesn’t give her the time actually to steal from people or lie about wads of cash.

So when she did find a bunch of notes lying around on her way, she decided that the best thing to do would be to return it to its rightful owner. And in the present generation, that does seem quite unprecedented- doesn’t it?

Woman Calls Police After Finding A Wad Of Cash On Her Way

Diane Gordon found that wad of cash simply because she had been walking on her usual route and had stopped at the BP Gas station to get a snack. This is when she chanced upon the money. “I looked down on the ground and found a plastic bag with a large sum of money in it. When you turned it over there was even more money.” Her honesty was palpable as she decided to do the right thing- rather than the easy thing. “This doesn’t belong to me, I need to call a police officer.” [1]

Diane Gordon
Image Credits: Fox 5 Atlanta

The officer on the scene, Lt. Matthe Ivory stated, “It never really crossed her mind to do anything other than turn it over.”  The officers who investigated the scene found out that this envelope filled with money belonged to newlyweds. Ivory mentioned, “Inside the bag was also wedding cards, these were gifts from a wedding that occurred that day. I think it was $14,780 worth of cash.

With her car breaking down the previous year, this was money that Diane could have definitely used the cash for some personal development. Ivory reiterated this sentiment by stating, “Especially under the idea that she doesn’t have transportation.” Not just moving from her place of work to her house, but there were other things in her life that Diane was missing out on- since she didn’t have a vehicle. Ivory continued, “Grandkids have sporting events that she can’t drive to, jumping into the car and driving over to see them doesn’t happen. It could have made my life a whole lot easier but it’s okay, it didn’t belong to me.” The money was subsequently returned to the newlyweds. 

Read: Mom-of-4 sleeps in car while caring for dying husband, has life turned around with gift of $10,000 and new car

Honesty Is Integral To Being Human- And These Individuals Define It

Incidentally, this isn’t the only time an individual decided to be virtuous and return any money that they found around themselves. Back in 2021, the Provincial Police in Ontario were thanking 12-year-old Alana Bauer for returning a large sum of money that she found on her paper route. She had safely tucked the money inside her bag so that she could finish her route, but after that, she took it to her mother and insisted that they go to the police and return it to the person who was definitely searching hell and high water for it. When asked why she did such a noble thing, the 12-year-old simply stated that this was the right thing to do.[2]

The police giving Alana Bauer a token of appreciation for her kindness regarding found cash.
Image Credits: OPP Handout

Another similar event took place in 2020, which should restore a little bit of faith in humanity. This time, it took place in Albuquerque, where Jose Nunez Romaniz, a 19-year-old, found a clear plastic bag that had a bunch of $50 and $20 bills. The young teenager was simply depositing some money into his bank account so that he could buy his grandfather a pair of fashionable socks. But while he was parking his truck outside an ATM, he saw this humongous pile of cash lying. Speaking to CNN later, Nunez mentioned, “I didn’t know what to do.  I was like, dreaming. I was just in shock. I was looking at myself and just thinking, ‘What should I do?’” 

Fazed For A Moment, The Teenager Knew What Was Most Important In The End

Although Nunez never thought about taking the money for himself, he did wonder if there was a catch associated with this. For a moment, he even had the thought that he could be kidnapped for this. Wasting no time, he decided to call the cops, who arrive on the scene, took the money with them, and counted it to land at a sum of $135,000. The police later understood that this money had been left outside the ATM by a bank subcontractor that had to fill the ATM vestibule with the money. Officer Drobit stated, “This money could have made an incredible amount of difference in his life if he went down the other path, but he chose… the integrity path and did the right thing.” [3]

Jose Nunez Ramirez being thanked for returning the huge amount of cash,
Image Credits: Albuquerque Police Department

The 19-year-old was a college student who came from humble beginnings. In a subsequent interview, he mentioned that one of the reasons why he never thought to take the money for himself was because no one in his family had seen so much cash at one point in time. Also, while he was waiting, he could hear his parents’ lessons ringing in his head. “My parents always taught me to work on my own. Stolen money would never last you any time. I had my mom’s voice and her ‘chancla’ in the back of my head.

Keep Reading: Influencer Raises More Than $180,000 For Elderly Walmart Worker To Retire

Sources

  1. Woman returns bag of $15,000 in cash she found while walking to work.” Fox5 Atlanta.  Dave Spencer and David Komer. February 1, 2023.
  2. ‘The right thing to do’: 12-year-old girl returns large sum of money found on paper route.” Global News. Daina Goldfinger. April 8, 2021.
  3. Teenager, an Aspiring Detective, Returns $135,000 He Found.” NY Times