Virginia Family Finds $1 Million in Cash, Returns it to Police

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In a strange tale out of Virginia, a family taking a long drive last weekend found what looked like trash on the road. The Schantz family noticed a car ahead of them swerve to avoid several bags of what appeared to be refuse. However, rather than leave it in the road for others to hit, they decided to load it up and get it out of the way.

Tons of Cash
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The family found several unremarkable white bags on the road and in a nearby ditch. They loaded up all of the apparent garbage and hauled it off. That night, when preparing to carry the garbage to the dump, the family noticed something odd about the refuse. There was what appeared to be mail inside. After peering into the bags, the family quickly realized they didn’t have garbage at all.

They had found roughly one million dollars in cash.

Family Makes Tough Call

The family then made a tough decision. Seeing the huge bags of cash had to be tempting. However, they decided to follow their hearts and told a local sheriff that they attended church with about what they had found.

Major Scott Moser, the family’s church friend and a member of the local sheriff’s department, told reporters about the family’s unusual discovery. “We went out there and determined it was, in fact, cash. It was in two bags and the total was close to $1 million,” Moser told CNN. The bags contained not only lots and lots of cash, but also information on where to deposit the money and what it was for.

Emily Schantz, one of the people who found the money, also spoke to CNN. “Inside of the bag, there were plastic baggies and they were addressed with something that said ‘cash vault,'” she told reporters. The sheriff’s department has yet to announce where, exactly, the money came from or where it was going.

What Would You Do?

Finding one million in cash is a true dream come true for some people. While the Schantz family decided to turn the cash over to the authorities, others may have taken a different path. Some may have taken the money to the top charities to donate to, while others may have just used it as a personal cash reserve.

Whether or not you agree with what the Shantz family did with the money, it’s undeniable that they have impressive moral fiber. Not only did they take the time to clean up what they thought was trash, they also gave up one million dollars.