PROVO, Utah — Honesty and patience have paid off for a maintenance worker who is to receive $10,000 he found in 1996 at Brigham Young University.
The employee, who was not identified, discovered the money in two pipes while working at BYU's Harold B. Lee Library.
The man gave the cash to campus police, but the owner has never been found. Property not claimed after three months must be disposed, under Utah law, but police believed the money was suspicious and warranted a longer investigation.
"This just had the feel of fruits of a crime," Lt. Arnold Lemmon said.
He made one last attempt last month to find the owner. State law requires police to print a legal notice in a newspaper and allow eight days for someone to come forward.
Lemmon took one call about the money, but the story didn't match. So the BYU employee will be given the cash.
"It was a man who was extremely honest," Lemmon said. "He never thought it would be returned to him."
And in other happy news...
BARRE, Vt. — With the drop of a single coin into a Salvation Army holiday collection kettle, the group may have been enriched by as much as $14,000.
The donated 1908 Indian head coin has a face value of $2.50, said Capt. Louis Patrick. It's worth at least at $250 and possibly as much as $14,000, according to a preliminary analysis.
"I was shocked," Patrick said. "I've heard of this happening in other places, but I've never actually seen it."
The coin was enclosed in a protective plastic case.
"It was an incredibly generous thing to do," Patrick said. "We are very appreciative."
The Salvation Army plans to have the coin appraised and sold, possibly before the end of the holiday season.
"One hundred percent of the money will be used to benefit our programs," Patrick said. The local Salvation Army distributes toys, food baskets and clothing.
Before the gold coin donation, the local group had raised about $34,000 this year, Patrick said. It typically raises $80,000 through its kettle collections, he said.