A New York City couple who were “magnet fishing” in a lake caught more than they had bargained for when they pulled out a safe that had $100,000 cash inside.
James Kane and Barbie Agostini tossed a line with a strong magnet attached to the end into a lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens on 31 May, Friday afternoon.
The couple managed to open the safe and found the cash, bundles of $100 bills, with an estimated value of $100,000, though the money was damaged by the water.
In an interview with NY1, James Kane explained they began magnet fishing during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the allure of treasure-hunting without having to spend a lot of money on equipment. Magnet fishing simply involves putting a rope with a strong magnet on it into water with the hopes of retrieving metal objects.
No one expected a safe to be on the end of the line though. Let alone one stuffed with cash.
“We pulled out and it was two stacks of freaking hundreds,” said Kane.
The couple said they contacted the New York police department about the find and said they were told there was no crime attached to the cash and there was no way to identify the original owner of the safe, meaning they were allowed to keep it.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Agostini. “I lost it.”
The couple said they’ve never found anything like this, citing some of their previous finds, including old guns, World War II grenades, a full-sized motorcycle, foreign coins, and jewellery.