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Timothy Yost, who is homeless, stumbled on $77,000 in a city park along the Colorado River in Texas.
A homeless man who stumbled on $77,000 in a city park in a Texan town may keep the money, the City Council decided Tuesday evening.
In January, Timothy Yost, who is homeless, was walking through Fisherman’s Park in Bastrop, Texas, heading for a spot along the Colorado River to wash his feet. He spotted a bag, which jingled when he kicked it, according to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. When he opened the bag, he found damp bills and 40 gold Krugerrand coins from South Africa.
When Yost, 46, tried to exchange the money at a nearby bank, the teller told him he would have to wait until the bills dried, the Statesman reported. That’s when the teller called police, who placed the money in evidence.
Bastrop Mayor Terry Orr told msnbc.com that Detective Tamera Brown launched a lengthy investigation to find the money’s owner. She reached out to the FBI and a bank fraud investigation team and placed an ad in the local newspaper, per the law. Several people said the money was theirs, Orr said, but their claims were dubious.
Ultimately, Brown determined that the money was found – under Texas state law, a finder may be a keeper, so long as the original owner can’t be located.
“I hope this man can find some benefit in this; I hope it gives him an opportunity to change his particular circumstances,” Orr said. “That’s just Terry talking as a human being. But I think the rest of the council would feel the same way.”
The story has been a spot of good news for a small town that recently had a spate of bad luck. In September, wildfires hit the area, destroying 70 homes. The fires burned 1.5 million trees in the area.
“It’s just one individual but hooray for him,” Orr said.
As for Yost, he was in jail Tuesday night for being intoxicated. But he told Austin’s Fox 7 news that his first purchase would be a car.
"I've been walking for so long; the first thing I want is a vehicle," he said.
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Leave a Comment:
When this went to press he was in jail for being intoxicated, and stating his first purchase is a car. Perhaps this was a one-time celebration upon hearing that the money was his, but I seriously doubt that.
Hey, best of luck to the guy, but I just don't see this ending well.
I wish this man the very best of GOOD LUCK !!! Don't let "FRIENDS" (not) talk you into a "LOAN".........Hope he uses the money wisely and has a much better life, this time next year...... Of course he will HAVE TO sober UP !!! AA meetings (maybe)....whatever it takes to get on the right road to recovery and decent living.....something he has needed FOR a long time......Best of LUCK Timothy Yost....
good for him & I hope he does well & gets moving forward in life again!
I see the tax man coming.
I see a Car 7,000$, then a drunk driving charge also in his future , then lawyers fees totalling $70,000
As for those of
you who are calling"Naysayers".....The man was homeless,He was in jail for intoxication at the time the story appeared.First thing on his mind is to buy a car. Yes,I hope it's a reasonably priced used car.Yes,I hope he banks the money and withdraws it in a timely fashion to pay rent AFTER he gets out of an Alcohol re-hab center. Yes, I hope he uses it as a nest egg to help himself get back on his feet and off the streets.
No,I don't think these positive things are likely to happen. Well, maybe the car part. I'd love to see a follow-up story on this 60 days from now.
What a waste! This dude will drink that money into oblivion and toss a week-long drinking party with the rest of his homeless buddies until the last penny is blown!
Shandril
" What a waste ! "
Does anyone know how I can contact this guy ?
I want to find him and help him set up a internet account in his name. That way you me and everyone can send him some more money before we lose ours too. This way he will live better and we all will feel so much better too.
I mean come on. You in for it or what? It's better than buying facebook stock. It's better than sending it to George Zimmerman so he can buy more guns and ammo and eat junk food while he and his wife sit in jail together.
I am taking pledges starting at only $5. anybody in?
I don't have any gold but I think I'm going to get a couple baggies and start putting, Oh , maybe $35-$40 in them so the money stays dry and start droping them around town where the homeless wonder. I know theres more and they sure can use a good find. What the hell it's only money. Can't take it with you.
I LOVE stories like this. I love it when a plan comes together. I FEEL SO GOOD. : D
All we can do is wish him well
This story has a good ending for once. I didn't see anything in the story at least yet anyways about the police trying to take it from him or anything like that. I would have thought they would have for sure tried to do that since he didnt bring it to them 1st. Well I guess maybe they can actually do something nice once and a while I guess. Unless of course that's what the city councel was deciding, who gets to keep it him or the police. And did that mayor talk about herself in the 3rd person??? Wow, this is her springboard to bigger and better things now.
Sad Sad Sad that the dredges of humanity or the rich rich are the only ones seem to get the lucky breaks! This clown is an alkie and that is where ALL the $ is going! Then he will be in jail again. Course perhaps he will keep drinking and put an end to his thirst. That be end totally. We or just me can hope. Perhaps something good will finally happen in the news reports.
Man has many issues besides alcohol. Who would have found money & took it to the bank to get dry money? Right there shows he's already lost his mind.
it's actually que sera sera whatever will be will be - but hey who's keeping tabs ;-)
reminds me of that funny tv commercial where everyone is singing the words to songs all wrong (lol for real)
as to the teller - she was just doing her job, which she no doubt wants to keep - and as a low person on the totem pole, she would have had to have approval from the bank manager to "exchange the Kugerrands" - and he was probably the one to actually call the police
but you have to wonder what "the rest of the story" is ... of the "original owner or owners"
my bad - this posted in the wrong place lol
He should be paying his fair share.
38 % to the federal government would be a start.
I have a bad feeling about a man who has a drinking problem (obviously) buying a car. Guess where I won't be visiting soon.
Called the police about what? Would she have called the police if he were clean shaven and wearing a suit? Is it a crime now to look broke but have a lot of cash on hand?
The bad thing about running a story like this with the guy's picture is that he now has a target on his back for anyone looking to rob someone, his buddies looking for "loans", or worse yet, the person(s) who actually own(s) the money. If it was drug money or money from some other illegal activity, the person(people) for sure isn't(aren't) going to go to the police to claim it. However, now that they know who has it, they'll definitely come and claim it.
I truly hope that this man can put the money to good use. I understand him wanting a vehicle but as my dad always told me, there's more to owning a car than just putting gas in it. I hope he thinks this through realizing that he's going to have buy insurance on it, put gas in it, repairs, etc., once he buys the car. I have to agree with @Yo Andy. A mobile home/modular home/trailer would probably be his best bet. At least he'd have a roof over his head, a bathroom, place to sleep, etc.
Now he can buy the dumpsters that he gets his food out of.
He's about to make some liquor store owner a very happy man.
His deodorant will cost more than that.
What a bunch of negative AHoles posted to this. I guess they are just jealous they don't have to walk thru the park to wash their feet.
HAH! KRUGERS instead of KUDOS! I'LL Take IT!
I expect his investment strategies to be a master stroke. You could argue some new head shots might be in order as well.
In my opinion, it would be a normal reaction for a bank teller to become suspicious if a man with the appearance of this guy walked up to the teller's window and put a sack of wet bills on the counter. Were it me, I would be thinking "what's up here?" I would then react just as this teller did.......so give her a break here. Besides, he got the money. I just wish some honest soul would take him under their wing and guide him back into good health and rational thinking again.
Your wondering "what's up here?" and calling the police are two vastly different things. How does the teller (or you) suspect someone of CRIMINAL behavior solely because of their appearance? We have become far too reliant on movies and TV to tell us what the "good guys" and "bad guys" look like. Would you have been so suspicious if this guy had showered, shaved and bought new clothes before coming before you? With nothing different except his appearance, do you still think the teller would have called the police?
Geez, you'd think they could have cleaned him up a little before they took the picture. If his common sense is as bad as his appearance, that 77K will be gone before you can blink. I'll bet he has long, lost relatives and "friends" coming out of the woodwork.
I'd be worried about having both the story AND my pic about finding the money published though. Three guesses as to who just "loses" 77K like that.
I hope this man does uses this money wisely, and as a bridge to a new life, where he is NOT homeless.
Sometimes we have a tendency to think that anyone who is homeless, is so because it was their fault, etc. But we have seen as in the days of the Great Depression, or recently in the 2008-2009 economic downturn, that anyone could become homeless.
Many are just 2 or 3 paychecks from being homeless ourselves.