Finding Money While Geocaching.

May 30, 2004

Make up an email address that's free of cost to you. Put it back with a note in the bottle telling the person to contact you at the address and explain what is missing and why it was placed there, also have them give a way to be contacted such as their phone number but don't call them from anything but a pay phone so it can't be traced back to you. Date the entry in the bottle and give them a deadline or it belongs to you. Once you have made contact you can agree to leave it somewhere and then e the location back to them. If you want to know who it is just hang around and watch to see who picks it up. If they leave their phone number do a reverse look-up and get their name. You could even leave a boobie trap, one of those rope things that will hang them in a tree by their feet. Then you could coincidently find them and help them down asking what happened. When all is said and done place a cache in the hiding place in their honor. Or you could just replace the bottle with some of that shreaded money in it. While it may be honest money or illegal money just remember the decision you make is one you'll have to live with. If you end up keeping it after trying all else but are well enough off that you don't need it, find someone who does. If you don't know anyone just go hang out in a thrift shop and watch and listen it's easy to tell who "needs" it and who wants it. Just tag each bill with wheresgeorge and ask them to log the bills. It would be neat to see where your good deed went after that. O.K., I'm done giving fatherly advice, GO CACHE!!!!

May 30, 2004

I would try to come up with a way to find the owner. Leaving a note for the owner to contact the police to identify the contents sounds like a good idea. Don't even tell the cops what you found, just that you found something that needs to be returned. If they go through the police, it might not be ill-gotten gains, and might be needed by someone. if it is drug related or stolen, they probably won't bother. Good luck. Keep us posted.

2.2k · May 30, 2004

put the pill pot back with a note saying you took it. don't leave any details of yourself but leave a pencil. tell them to leave an explanation of who they are and why the left the money there. then after a few weeks go and check. if you think any explanation left is reasonable then it's up to you if you put the money back.

or as has been said it's very unlikely that an innocent person has left the cash, go spend it on something special, even if you just blow it on the lottery or something.

enjoy

2.7k · May 30, 2004

Well, before my brother-in-law found a credit card along the highway and turned it in to a cop and got arrested for possession of stolen property, i would have said definitely report it to the cops.

Now i wonder. If it is drug money, they just might arrest you for having it (could have residue or something?). I don't know how they would make that decision, but I have personally lost a lot of trust for those kinda situations.

If you feel you must turn it in, put it in an envelope and mail it to them or something.

I wouldn't be too keen on going back for any reason. You might get caught putting it back (or searching for more) and get involved in something you don't want any part of (by either side if it is illicit).

Regarding contact:

Would a homeless person call you? Doubtful

Would a drug dealer or pimp like to find the person who took his money? Coitenly!

Do you WANT to be found by a criminal type? Well, do ya?

DEFINITELY DO NOT PUT IT BACK WITH ANY KIND OF CONTACT INFORMATION!

If you want to put it back in case it belongs to a homeless person with the idea of getting it if no one claims it, just put it back and go check on it after a couple of months.

If it belonged to a homeless person, they probably have already discovered it missing and they will not use that hiding place again (unless they are both homeless AND stupid). Therefore they will not likely go back to look for it again.

If you feel the right thing to do is put it back, do so. But then just forget about it. The rightful owner will get it back or someone else will find it. Either way, it never was really yours and it is no concern to you.

Easiest and best thing to do is donate it to the Red Cross or the local homeless shelter. Easist way to solve the "homeless" question and you don't put yourself at risk. Who knows, the homeless shelter might actually know the person that "lost' it.

MHO

May 30, 2004

I guess I'm with the group that believes there's not many legitimate reasons to hide large amounts of money in public places

That's as inane as my father suggesting there's no legitimate activites one could be pursuing after midnight when I was a teenager. Playing RPG's and watching movies???

That eliminated any change my folks had of instituting a curfew--whoops! (Then again, perhaps parents shouldn't try reasoning at 3:00 am with a rather awake teenager.)

Now nearly 20 years later I know better, having returned from caching at those hours (nevermind having many an edit job finish at those hours--double-time, gotta' love it.)

Anyway, those quick to jump to their own conclusions notwithstanding, stealing someone else's money isn't socially acceptable behaviour--and I'm surprised so many encourage it here.

The reasons the money was hidden there are irrelevant. Taking it without providing a method of recover is outright theft. Guessing as to the legitimacy of it being hidden there has no impact on that.

(Does anyone else find it ironic that a community incensed by geocaches being tampered with [worth zero to tens of dollars] have no problem outright stealing somebody's hundreds of dollars?!??)

Scary,

Randy

They left no note, no logbook, nothing.

Like I said, most folks put money in banks/pillowcases. If the bottle was found on private property, that's a different story, that would be stealing. I suppose a quarter found in a parking lot is rightfully someone else's? It's $137 not tied to a game, left out in the woods. Sounds like pizza/beer to me.

2.7k · May 30, 2004

New thought- The Dr. Laura Perspective:

<Dr. Laura>

Why are you asking?

You made the decision that you were going to take the money when you took it.

If you REALLY cared that it be returned to the rightful owner, you would have simply left it there for the rightful owner to pick it up where he or she left it.

You've made your decision. Now go do the right thing.

</ Dr. Laura>

1.8k · May 30, 2004

Aye yi yi !!! Now I'm more confused than ever... Do I 'need' the money? No. Could I find a use for the money? Yes. Is finding money in a public park with no identity or contact info. stealing? No. Would I feel quility if it belonged to a homeless person or someone that is mentally challenged? Yes. So I think the best solution would be to put the money back then wait a couple of weeks and go back and see if it has been touched. If it is exactly where I left it after two weeks, then I go and buy a new pair of Asolo hiking boots. If it looks as if someone used the money in any way, then I leave it and forget about it.

2.7k · May 30, 2004

Sounds OK to me. Just be careful putting it back.

May 30, 2004

From what I understood, the bottle was corroded with dirt; meaning it had been there for a LONG time, without being checked on. Who knows where it came from?

I would LOVE to find some cache..uhhh..i mean cash hidden in a wall or wherever...I would consider myself very lucky and enjoy it!

2.2k · May 30, 2004

buy a bunch of stuffed animals and go to a local hospital and hand them out in the childrens ward. you should get a lot of smiles.

May 30, 2004

OK, I will play devil's advocate for a brief moment. IF you return it and have already logged the cache you were looking for when you found this hidden near-by, won't other cachers in your area then know about the hidden cash near the cache? Wouldn't that maybe be a little bit of a temptation for someone who just may not quite agree with your putting it back? You may return in two weeks to see if the rightful owner has taken it and find it gone, but not necessarily by the original owner.

Again....I am not saying any cacher would go looking for it, if you replace it. But I am saying it could be a temptation that is better avoided.

May 30, 2004

I think that it is a bit niave of everyone to think that a drug dealer would use a wall and a pill bottle to collect payment. They collect upon purchase, credit lines don't really apply until people start buying huge shipments of drugs. The money could be the result of some petty theft, otherwise it would stay in someones pocket or in the bank. I say use the money to make some insanley difficult multicache, with a few valuable items inside, and hide it at the top of a mountain or in the middle of a swamp and let the cachers have at it.

May 30, 2004

Maybe the person who placed it there wanted to see if the finder would attempt to contact them. Who knows it may be the precurser to an even larger cash cache.

3.9k · May 30, 2004

I thinking the homeless theory makes the most sense. Maybe you should just put it back and forget you found it. You're not losing anything because it wasn't your to begin with. Just put it back and forget it.

5.3k · May 30, 2004

<snip> So I think the best solution would be to put the money back then wait a couple of weeks and go back and see if it has been touched. If it is exactly where I left it after two weeks, then I go and buy a new pair of Asolo hiking boots. If it looks as if someone used the money in any way, then I leave it and forget about it.

If you decide to go thru with this plan, let me know where it is hidden so I can check up on it for you. Thanks :blink:

Edited May 30, 2004 by Stunod

May 30, 2004

Go back to where you found it and leave just the bottle with coordinates to a new hiding place. If they find it then you know it belongs to a cacher and we all know NOT to mess with a fellow cacher!

Rich

1.8k · May 30, 2004

OK, I will play devil's advocate for a brief moment. IF you return it and have already logged the cache you were looking for when you found this hidden near-by, won't other cachers in your area then know about the hidden cash near the cache? Wouldn't that maybe be a little bit of a temptation for someone who just may not quite agree with your putting it back? You may return in two weeks to see if the rightful owner has taken it and find it gone, but not necessarily by the original owner.

Again....I am not saying any cacher would go looking for it, if you replace it. But I am saying it could be a temptation that is better avoided.

Very good point G&B. Now I'm back to the original dilemma ... should I just keep the money or put it back (and let a another geocacher come along and take it.) After running through many possible scenerios, I have to agree with JMBella that the homeless scenerio is the most believable. If the guilt does not subside, then I can always go to the nearest homeless shelter and make a donation. The only sticking point with the homeless scenerio, is that the pill bottle seemed to have been hidden and untouched for a long time. The dirt residue on the bottle and the money was damp. On the other hand, some of the $1 bills were '2003 Series'. So now I have to weigh the problem ... in one hand I have some guilt ... in the other hand I have a new pair of Asolo hiking boots ... the heaviest one wins!!!

May 30, 2004

It's not as if someone dropped it out of their pocket, and doesn't know where to find it. They put it there on purpose. It belongs to someone. It doesn't belong to you. If you had no qualms about keeping it, you wouldn't have asked our opinion. That little voice inside you is telling you what to do. Put it back.

Edit: Oh, yea. At least edit your original post so as not to mention where the cache is, and hope that those who read this topic are as honorable as you.

Edited May 30, 2004 by mbrownjer

May 30, 2004

I like the idea of putting the bottle back with a note. If nobody contacts you within a couple of weeks keep it. $138 ought to buy you about 5 gallons of gas by then for your cachemobile. :blink:

2.1k · May 30, 2004

Even if it was placed there by someone, there are inherent risks with placing money in a stone wall. One of those risks is that someone else will find and keep it. You could what-if the answer to where it came from to death and still potentially not hit the "truth" of the situation. Would you be more likely to purchase boots with it if it were drug money or stolen from a local gas station? Would you be more likely to put it back or donate it if it came from a homeless person? What if the homeless person is crazy and put it there with no intention of ever coming back for it? What if the homeless person stole it from the gas station? The point is that the back story to how the money ended up in your hands is completely non-issue because you will *never* know the actual answer. Basing your judgement of what to do next should not rely on the how/why the money got to you in the first place.

May 30, 2004

If you leave a note saying to contact the police for the money and it a homeless person very few of them will do so, even for that much money (which is a lot to them).

If it a homeless person who has come back for the money and found it gone they won't come back.

I would never leave any contact info that can be traced.

My bet is a druggie stashed the money there on the way to get stoned so they wouldn't spend it, then couldn't remember where they left it.

May 30, 2004

If you have to leave contact information and you believe that you are dealing with a homeless person, contact the nearest shelter or mission, tell them you are trying to return something maybe lost, leave their contact information( of the shelter) in the bottle and have them contact you if someone claims the bottle. Bottle back, with shelter note, shelter will get slight donation either way and you hold the money, no cops, no problems, wait a month and then figure it is yours after the donation. Simple.

3.9k · May 30, 2004

I'll agree that the homless scenerio is the most likely. However if the bottle appears to have been there awhile untouched, that homeless person may no longer be around. Unfortunately you can't put it back now. Too many people know about it.

Here is what I would do. I would put the bottle back with a note to contact the nearest shelter where I would make arrangements to give the money back if it was claimed.

Or you can buy your new hiking boots...or a new hiking staff! :blink:

El Diablo

May 30, 2004

The responsbile thing to do would be to turn it in to the cops. If no one claims it in like 30 days, the rest of the money is yours...

Or you could take out a small finders fee for yourself and then turn it in to the cops...

That was how it was here in Utah till this year, now if on one claims in 30 days it's the state that gets the money. Now more people will just keep the money. I think that this change in UT law is BS.

May 30, 2004

Make up an email address that's free of cost to you.

I've found spammotel.com to be a great site for doing this. First, it's free. Secondly, if you start getting spam, you can delete the address and forget about it.

All of the online purchases I make are done with spammotel.com e-mail addresses. And, they simply forward the e-mail to me with the little note I specified in the message. Quite simple, free, and effective.

That's my $0.02.

2.1k · May 30, 2004

you should definitely put the money back, and email me with the coords, I'll keep an eye on it. :blink:

nfa

2.6k · May 30, 2004

Does anyone else find it ironic that a community incensed by geocaches being tampered with [worth zero to tens of dollars] have no problem outright stealing somebody's hundreds of dollars?!??

My thoughts exactly.

Leaving too obvious contact info could be risky, but maybe a Hotmail address created for just that purpose, or something? If they want their cash back you can make a letterbox out of it and email the clues to them needing never to meet them.

Leaving the money to the local police would probably be the 'rightest' thing to do. If you can't trust them, who can you?

4.4k · May 30, 2004

Go back and leave a note at the place you found it.

Explaining you found it,and for them to leave you a note,you and the other person are the only one who knows the exact spot.

Just see if you get a reply note.

Might be worth the effort.You never know,your luck is possitive it looks like to me so a little more is better.

May 30, 2004

Clearpath! What were you thinking when you took that money?!

Now you've screwed everything up!

Didn't you see Shawshank Redemption? Now how is Red going to get to Zihuatanejo?

This is terrrible! :blink:

2.3k · May 31, 2004

....then again criminals aren't the brightest types....

Now I'm taking that personally.

Ummmm....errrr......sorry 'bout that- present company excluded of course. :blink:

May 31, 2004

After reading the posts, I'm with GEOJOE on this one. - Keep it, it's yours.

While a number of others have suggested (and have been shot down) that it's drug money, it's not. In all probability, you found yourself a "cash stash" of someone currently incarcerated or about to be - "Get out of jail" money, so to speak. Think "Shawshank Redemption" and you'll get the idea.

I speak from semi-experience, while never in trouble with the law personally. A cousin admitted stashing about $1100 in a strategic location in a field near we both grew up as kids in Kentucky. After getting out of jail, they went back two years later and found it exactly as they left it.

So keep it, and spend it wisely towards a new GPS or something, if you haven't already.

If your conscense (sp) bothers you, then donate it. I wouldn't.

May 31, 2004

I had a weird experience like this while serving in the Foreign Legion(no I'm not joking...no, not a good idea) One of the corporals found about $240 in 20s in a brick wall. He confronted me and asked if it was mine (a good assumption, since I was the only Yank there at the time). I assured him that it wasn't mine, and he gladly kept the cash. It probably was some "escape" cash that a previous American had stashed.

June 1, 2004

I wouldn't leave a note with your name or contact number, what if they aren't good people? then they know where to come for their money. and if it was a "good person", ask yourself, what little old lady do you know that hides their money in a rock wall in public? Usually it is around the house or yard.

Leave an e-mail address.

June 1, 2004

IMO, you should put the money back. It is not yours and you did not simply find it laying around. It was in a hiding place. Just like a GeoCache. It was hidden by someone, but not you.

How many homeless people own a lap top or know how to access the internet. I'm guessing not many. I say put it back the way you found it for whoever stashed it there's sake.

This is along the same line as a muggle stealing a cache. Only it's a Geocacher stealing a Muggles cash stash. For Karma's sake, please put it back.

Edited June 1, 2004 by madratdan

1.4k · June 1, 2004

I would be all over that wall again, searching every inch of it...who knows, maybe you only found #1 of 100 stashes....

My thoughts exactly

June 1, 2004

This conversation has go unbelievable legs to it. The best idea by far is to put a note in it telling the person to contact you and say what was in it (for return).

It's good to see that people are concerned about doing the right thing, but as someone who has...shall we say...been exposed to "varying socioeconomic demographics"..."on the street" (so to speak)...this conversation would have never gone this far. The comment someone made about an arrest for turning in a stolen credit card was interesting. That kind of rediculous thing does happen rarely, and discourages people from trying to do the right thing. I saw someone on "COPS" get arrested for calling the police because they found drugs belonging to their teen son...how rediculous! On another episode the cops seized a truck that had a small amount of drugs in it. The problem? The vehicle had been reported stolen...and the thief was in the truck when they found the drugs!

*It's a shame that in "the land of the free" it seems that we have turned into a land of fear and paranoia at times. Americans have never been more fearful, and more "risk averse" than now.

9.4k · June 1, 2004

It could have been placed by someone saving up for a saxophone :rolleyes:

Seriously, if you want to find the owner, but don't want to give out any contact info, place a note in the container asking them to identify the original contents. State that you will check for their answer "in a few weeks" or some other ambiguous timeframe. When you eventually return, if they haven't responded, it's yours. It would be helpful to put a mini pencil with the note just in case the "homeless person" doesn't have one.

June 1, 2004

Oooooh, such a good topic! It's like an essay question you'd get on your Philosophy final exam . . .

Anyone else thinking along the lines of LOTR? Now you're going to have to travel to Mordor and throw it in the volcano. :rolleyes:

Could be a homeless person's stash. Could be a drug deal (pot is still fairly inexpensive, I hear). Could be a teenager's stash. Could be elopment money/abortion money. Could be an abused wife saving up to get her and her kids the hell away from her jerk of an old man (or vice-versa). Could be a stash left over from post 9/11 hysteria or Y2K hysteria.

Hmmm... could be that someone knew there was a cache nearby and just wanted to put that "extra cache" there to mess with your head and/or be generous.

I'll say one thing -- I'm glad it's not me that found it. Like the OP, it would be a real moral dilemma for me and I'd want to do something that would be fair with the laws of karma -- and that might mean keeping it, too. How do you know?

June 1, 2004

IF you don't put it back where you found it (I for one doubt that it could have been put there for any legitimate or legal reason), I would put it in the collection plate at church rather than keep it.

June 1, 2004

Did you feel the money? Did it feel like real money? If not it could be fake. But why would someone hide different bills if they could make all of them? Maby to make it look legit. It is very unlikely they are fake. Just hade to say something semi helpful.

1.7k · June 1, 2004

At last, an upside to searching for micros

2k · June 2, 2004

Put the empty bottle back and check it in a couple of weeks to see if someone put some more money in it :rolleyes:

June 2, 2004

I like the idea of putting it back with a note saying you'll check for a reply in a week (and no I won't go there and leave you a note saying it's mine). You could use the money to bring a "donation" of drinks and/or a few more prizes for the KC picnic in a few weeks!

1.8k · June 2, 2004

I like the idea of putting it back with a note saying you'll check for a reply in a week (and no I won't go there and leave you a note saying it's mine). You could use the money to bring a "donation" of drinks and/or a few more prizes for the KC picnic in a few weeks!

Aaaw schucks, you are going to take the fun out of finding that money ... I had my heart set on a pair of hiking boots. I could give away my old hiking boots as a prize at the KC Geo Picnic, hehehe. Seriously, put me down for (4) 2 liter bottles of soda and let me know what would be an appropriate prize giveaway.

3.9k · June 2, 2004

I wouldn't leave a note with your name or contact number, what if they aren't good people? then they know where to come for their money. and if it was a "good person", ask yourself, what little old lady do you know that hides their money in a rock wall in public? Usually it is around the house or yard.

Leave an e-mail address.

I didn't read every post but, has anybody thought about the fact that if the person is HOMELESS, they probably don't have a FREAKIN COMPUTER?!!

I still say put the money back. Yes, a lot of people know about it now, but putting it back is the right thing to do. If someone else takes it then that's their bad karma, not yours.

June 2, 2004

Some time ago, I hid my bicycle in the woods so no one would steal it while I went for a hike in the woods, when I returned, I found a note where I left it saying that if I wanted my bike, to contact this guy and he would give me my bike back. I had to walk home and call this guy and get my bike back. A short period later I hid it in a different spot thinking I was good to go for another short hike, when I returned this time, I found a note saying that if I wanted my bike back, to contact the police, I thought, Oh my God, someone kidnapped my bike.

Next time, I parked my bike it disappeared completely.

I guess my whole point is this--If I hide , stash, place, leave or otherwise put something in a location decided by me, why should anybody come along and decide to move it, safegaud it, protect it, or take in to their possesion without my consent?

This discussion has become extremely entertaining--and we complain when someone loots our caches?

Your act may have been noble, but it has caused you much grief my friend.

I have been living in Japan for 2 and a half years and here they live by a code. If you leave something laying around, you know it will be there when you return.

Aren't we leaving our caches in places expecting OTHER people outside of GEOCACHING to leave them alone?

Edited June 2, 2004 by Wanderingson

2.6k · June 2, 2004

I didn't read every post but, has anybody thought about the fact that if the person is HOMELESS, they probably don't have a FREAKIN COMPUTER?!!

Surely even a homeless person can find an internet terminal somewhere? Library? Café? Job centre? Social welfare office? If $138 is a big money, I guess (s)he will figure out what to do with an email address with instructions to contact it.

June 2, 2004

not many homeless people can get access to computers for email-for free. and if they are mentally disabled it is even less likely they know how to find computer access. in time you'll know what to do. good luck!

on a lighter note, i'll hold the money for you til you decide!

2.3k · June 2, 2004

My first impression is that it was a kid caching his allowance money.

That was my first impression, also. Some kid squirreling it away.

The best thing you could do would be put the bottle back as you found it with a note and some type of contact info.

I gotta go with this one, too. If it were me, I'd leave a contact number for a cell phone with voice mail AND an email addy just in case. That is a LOT of money to some kid or someone hard up. I just don't see this as a question of "spend it or not."

My take on it would be to leave the note saying very generically "I found it and am keeping it safe. Call or email to ID."

What would it hurt to SAFELY keep it for a while and wait for them to claim it?

June 2, 2004

has anybody thought about the fact that if the person is HOMELESS, they probably don't have a FREAKIN COMPUTER?!!

This is what I've been wondering. I know the digital divide is getting thinner... but I believe most homeless people do not have Internet Access. If you can't afford a house, wireless Internet might not be in the budget.

Sure there are computers available in coffee houses and libraries... at our library you have to have a library card to use the computer... and you have to have an address to get the card. Plus they tend to ask homeless people to leave nice Internet cafe coffee houses.

Homeless person with e-mail access: Not impossible. But unlikely.

Finding Money While Geocaching.

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