$98,000 cash found in desk bought on Craigslist
New Haven, Connecticut Rabbi Noah Muroff bought a desk he found listed on Craigslist and ended up discovering a bag filled $98,000 cash stuffed inside the purchase. Rabbi Noah told WTNH News 8 that when he got the piece of office furniture home, "The desk didn’t fit into this office by fraction of an inch.” He and his wife attempted to take the hinges off his office door, but that didn’t help. So they unscrewed the desktop and noticed something unusual. "Behind the drawers there is this plastic bag, like a shopping, I’m talking about. And in that bag, I could already see through the bag, there’s it looks like a hundred dollar bill,” said Rabbi Noah. He continued, "We open it up and it's full of cash. We count it up and there's $98,000 cash sitting in the bag…Right away my wife and I sort of you know looked at each other and said, ‘We can't keep this money.’"
The Muroffs knew that the money belonged to the original desk owner, who said that she bought the furniture from Staples and assembled it herself. So Rabbi Noah called her and explained his find. The original owner, identified only as “Patty,” was speechless on the other end of the phone only able to say, "Ohmy gosh, because I... oh my God." Vosizneias.com reported that Patty knew she stored the money she inherited, in the desk, but she was unable to find it when it fell behind the desk’s filing drawer. She assumed that the money was somewhere else in her home when she couldn’t locate it and sold the desk never thinking it still contained her nest egg.
Rabbi Noah, a father of four young children and also a ninth grade Rabbi at the Yeshiva of New Haven, brought his entire family along when he returned the money, believing it was an opportunity to teach his kids a lesson about honesty and truth. When they arrived, Patty refunded the $150 purchase price of the desk and also insisted that the rabbi accept reward money. She was overwhelmed with the family’s good deed and wrote a note saying, “I cannot thank you enough for your honesty and integrity. I do not think there are too many people in this world that would have done what you did by calling me,” ending the note, “I will be forever grateful.”
Rabbi Noah is one amongst several good samaritans restoring our faith in humanity. In August, Lakeisha Williams, a Stockton, California Goodwill employee was sorting through donations when she found an envelope containing $10,500 cash. She knew that she had to do the right thing and told KXTV News 10, "My concern was somebody was out that money, and I would have liked for them to get it back."
Glen James, a homeless man in Boston, turned in a backpack to police with over $40,000 in cash and travelers checks back in September. His story inspired thousands worldwide to donate to an online fundraiser started by Ethan Whittington, to help improve Glen’s life. Currently the gofundme.com site has raised $159,010 for Glen James.
More info: WTNH, VosIzNeias.com
