College Student’s Wish Fulfilled – $40,000 Found In Old Couch

But this student really did win the jackpot. And then he had to decide what to do with it. Keep reading to find out the rest of the story.

They were living in New Paltz, New York, a nice quiet area with the university nearby. The first step was to find an apartment that they’d all feel comfortable in. Then, they would start furnishing it. There wasn’t much money between them, but they’d figure it out.

The Salvation Army store they visited had some very nice pieces, and they were having fun looking around. All of them eyed one couch that was a bit shabby but seemed really comfortable and was just the right size. After sitting in it, they decided it would do.

The sale was completed, and they discussed how to deal with the shabbiness factor when they got it home. It was quite beaten up, so they decided to cover it with a blanket to hide the worst parts. They had no idea, however, what they were about to find inside that $20 piece of furniture.

After about a month of shifting around on the lumpy couch, Reese became frustrated. Even if they had only spent $20, they at least wanted to have a comfortable place to sit. So he took his fist and gave it a hearty punch.

There was a popping sound.

They had to find out what was inside, so they unzipped the pillow cover. To their amazement, there were rolls and rolls of bubble wrap. Wow, they thought, someone filled these pillows with bubble wrap, no wonder it was so lumpy!  Then they ripped one of the bubble-wrapped sections open. OMG!

They kept pulling out stacks of bills – over $40,000 was piled up in front of them. Their first reaction was to jump for joy – this kind of thing only happens in the movies! Then Cally reached in to pull out more money, but instead, she pulled out something that changed everything.

Then Cally pulled out something else, and it was not anything the three expected. It was a bank deposit slip. And not only that – it had a name on it. This money belonged to someone; it was the proverbial money in the mattress. They knew what they had to do.

The bank deposit slip had a phone number on it, so they called and confirmed the customer’s name. They were sure the money they’d come across accidentally had belonged to this person. But maybe it was cash that had been earned illegally?  They had to find out.

Someone answered the phone and said “Yes?” in a cranky voice. Reese asked if the person had sold or given away a couch recently. When they heard the answer, they realized they now had even bigger problems.

So the three piled into the car and drove all the way to Hudson Valley. During the trip, they debated how to handle the situation. What if the people were violent? How would they handle that? They were pretty certain they were not getting a reward from these folks.

As soon as they pulled up, two women ran out of the house, all smiles and gratitude. There was a lot of hugging and thank-yous, none of which the three roommates had expected. The two women were the daughter and granddaughter of the original owner. Now it was time for answers.

Her mom knew she’d need extra money when her husband died, and wanted to make sure she had a nest egg.  At this point in the story, the daughter started to cry. Through her tears, she explained that after her dad died, her mom had gone into the hospital with heart problems.

One task of the renovation was to throw out the old furniture. Yes, that included the sofa stuffed with money. The daughter had absolutely no idea, of course, that it was anything but an old lumpy sofa. At that point in the telling of the story, someone else came in to join the conversation.

The elderly woman embraced the three roommates and could not stop thanking them for their efforts to return the money to the rightful owner. She even gave them each one thousand dollars as a thank you. At that moment, the three friends knew they’d done the right thing.