http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/apr05/318226.asp
Goodwill good guy
Man finds $2,000 in shirt, turns it in
West Bend - When Larry Hoffman went shopping at the Goodwill store in West Bend on April Fools' Day, he was looking for a bargain, not a treasure.
There was treasure, though, in the bargain that he found: $2,000 in cash inside the pocket of a secondhand shirt.
No one would have ever known if Hoffman had kept the money. But he gave it back.
No fooling.
"If there's a one-tenth of 1 percent chance that somebody's going to claim it," Hoffman said Wednesday, "they should have that opportunity."
The rightful owner has 90 days to claim the money. After that, Hoffman can claim it.
Hoffman, 69, a former sales engineer who lives in West Bend, said he's a regular customer at the Goodwill store in town. "Being retired, it's a habit of mine to stop in and peruse for bargains," he said.
Hoffman bought the shirt on April 1 and tried it on when he got home. Wouldn't you know, it was too small. Then he found the cash stuffed in the pocket.
Hoffman said he returned to the store later that day, not fretting long about what to do.
"The money certainly wasn't mine. It belonged to somebody else, obviously," he said. "That person was certainly on my mind more than me."
Customers have returned small amounts of money they have found in clothing in the past, "but nothing on this scale," said Rebecca Johnson, who has managed the Goodwill store for six years.
Goodwill has no way to trace where the shirt came from, so a few days after Hoffman returned the money, Johnson called West Bend police, who took a report on April 5.
On Wednesday, officers said they wouldn't describe the shirt or the denominations of the bills that were found, but are ready to talk to anyone who can rightly claim the money.
Hoffman said his wife, Charlotte, didn't learn about the entire episode until hearing a telephone message from a reporter who had seen the police report. He said she agreed with his decision, and there wasn't really any reason to tell her - unless he had found money that he would keep.
That's still a possibility in the case of the $2,000. If no one claims the money after 90 days, Hoffman can claim it - otherwise, it goes to the city.
Hoffman said he'll worry about that decision if and when he has to make it. In the meantime, he's comfortable with what he's done so far.
"When we were kids, it was always 'finders keepers, losers weepers,' " Hoffman said. "But that's not really the case. You've got to keep the losers from weeping too much."
Goodwill good guy
Man finds $2,000 in shirt, turns it in
West Bend - When Larry Hoffman went shopping at the Goodwill store in West Bend on April Fools' Day, he was looking for a bargain, not a treasure.
There was treasure, though, in the bargain that he found: $2,000 in cash inside the pocket of a secondhand shirt.
No one would have ever known if Hoffman had kept the money. But he gave it back.
No fooling.
"If there's a one-tenth of 1 percent chance that somebody's going to claim it," Hoffman said Wednesday, "they should have that opportunity."
The rightful owner has 90 days to claim the money. After that, Hoffman can claim it.
Hoffman, 69, a former sales engineer who lives in West Bend, said he's a regular customer at the Goodwill store in town. "Being retired, it's a habit of mine to stop in and peruse for bargains," he said.
Hoffman bought the shirt on April 1 and tried it on when he got home. Wouldn't you know, it was too small. Then he found the cash stuffed in the pocket.
Hoffman said he returned to the store later that day, not fretting long about what to do.
"The money certainly wasn't mine. It belonged to somebody else, obviously," he said. "That person was certainly on my mind more than me."
Customers have returned small amounts of money they have found in clothing in the past, "but nothing on this scale," said Rebecca Johnson, who has managed the Goodwill store for six years.
Goodwill has no way to trace where the shirt came from, so a few days after Hoffman returned the money, Johnson called West Bend police, who took a report on April 5.
On Wednesday, officers said they wouldn't describe the shirt or the denominations of the bills that were found, but are ready to talk to anyone who can rightly claim the money.
Hoffman said his wife, Charlotte, didn't learn about the entire episode until hearing a telephone message from a reporter who had seen the police report. He said she agreed with his decision, and there wasn't really any reason to tell her - unless he had found money that he would keep.
That's still a possibility in the case of the $2,000. If no one claims the money after 90 days, Hoffman can claim it - otherwise, it goes to the city.
Hoffman said he'll worry about that decision if and when he has to make it. In the meantime, he's comfortable with what he's done so far.
"When we were kids, it was always 'finders keepers, losers weepers,' " Hoffman said. "But that's not really the case. You've got to keep the losers from weeping too much."
