More than $100,000 found in an old television at a Barrie recycling centre has been returned to its rightful owner.
Employees at GEEP Industries were dismantling the television last month when a cash box and banking records were found inside the TV. The television had been sitting on the property for more than a year.
“I was like ‘whoa!’ There was like four stacks of $50 bills and I knew it was a large amount of money,” says general manager Rick Deschamps.
The items were ultimately handed over to police. Officers were able to use the banking records to locate the owner.
“There were some bank documents and legal documents inside so we were able to track down him in that capacity,” says Barrie police Const. Nicole Rodgers.
The owner, a 68-year-old man from Bolsover, Ont., which is located near Kawartha Lakes, told police that he had put the inheritance money in the television for safe keeping.
“One of those safe spots that he thought he'd never forget, but apparently he did and it got passed on to a family friend many years later,” says Rodgers.
That family friend eventually brought it to the recycling centre.
“Hopefully he's put it in a savings account now and his family will be able to use the inheritance the way they wish.”
