When you find something, do you turn it in?

[aprophet]

so when you find something on the side of a busy highway who do you turn it in to? what do they do with it? we have one highway here if you walk down it Saturday morning both sides and just look a little bit you will find money sometimes $5 sometimes $50-$100 , 20-50 yards away there are 2 bars same thing on sunday morning sometimes there are tools left on the side of the road sometime 1 tool sometime partial tool sets a lot of junkmen here you would'nt believe what falls off their trucks it stays on the side of the road 1-3 weeks LOL

 

[sgtmom52]

Yes I turn it in. It is only right to do it.

In Pennsylvania there is a Theft law regarding that. It is called "Theft of Property Lost, Mislaid or Delivered by Mistake". The charge can be a misdemeanor or felony depending of the value of the property.

A person who comes into control of property of another that he knows to have been lost, mislaid, or delivered under a
mistake as to the nature or amount of the property or the identity of the recipient is guilty of theft if, with intent to
deprive the owner thereof, he fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to a person entitled to have it.

Also in PA when you turn it and it is unclaimed by the owner ~ if it has a certain value or is cash ~ it is required to be turned over to the State Treasury ~ Bureau of Unclaimed Property where they again attempt to contact an owner. If (after a lengthy period of time) the owner is not found the property is sold and the cash is placed into the State Crime Victim's Compensation Fund and some is placed into an account for payout of legitimate claims of lost/mislaid property. This also covers old banks accounts, insurance policies, etc.

Items of little or no value (as listed by the State regulations) can be disposed of by local Police Departments as they see fit ~ you as the finder of the property have no legal right to it although they may return it to you.​

 

[CedarRidgeChicks]

my hubby works for a large Japanese Co. here in Ky, several years ago when he went to the restroom , he found a wallet, he turned it in "up front" the next day the President of the company came to him and presented him with a $500.00 check....the wallet had over $10,000 in Japanese currency in it....so it does pay to be honest!!

 

[Mandalina]

I turn anything that doesnt belong to me or someone I know in, including money.People at the stores always look at me weird for saying I found the money and want to hand it in for whoever lost it, like it is unheard of and I should have just pocketed it

 

[SallyF]

When I lived in Charleston SC, my hobby, believe it or not, was picking up roadside trash. I'd walk around with a pick-up tool and plastic bag; it's amazing what people will throw out of cars! One day I took a shortcut through the parking lot of a doctor's office, and found a new $20 bill right next to the handicapped parking space at the front door. I took it in to the office, gave it to the receptionist and explained what had happened. When I left the office, I found another one. I checked the parking lot and sidewalk and found a total of $240 dollars, all in crisp new twenties. I gave them all to the doctor's receptionist and nurse (made sure there were at least TWO people in that office who knew the story, figured it was less likely that someone would keep the money!) Later that week I called the office, just out of curiosity, to ask if anyone had ever claimed it. The receptionist said that one of their patients had, that she had just been to the bank before she came to the doctor's office, and had gotten her rent money in cash. Never knew whether or not that story was true, but I felt better for not having kept the money. I like to think that it was true; if not, it's on someone else's conscience, not mine.

 

[seismic wonder2]

I was at a stop light and saw a little blue car make a left turn. something rolled off the top and landed near the "island" in the middle of the street. I did a slow drive by, opened the door, swooped out and snatched it up.
I knew I'd never catch up to the guy so I went home (just down the street)

I called several numbers on the business cards in the wallet (because who keeps their OWN number in his wallet?) I found out it belonged to a lawer with something like $250 in it. I left a message on his office machine describing what happened and the money amount inside.

Anyway, He gave me $20.00 to take my wife to dinner....It was a nice gesture but all the while I was thinking ("Dinner where? Mcdonalds?") LOL Too funny.

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
People leave their KIDS.... but then maybe that's on purpose

 

[ChickenToes]

If there is a place that I can turn it in, sure. Otherwise, my kleptomania kicks in. 20 foot log chain found half-buried on the roadside? You are comin' home with me!

 

[Ema]

when I was 20 I was worked at a fast food restaurant, money was super tight, my rent was overdue and my fridge was practically empty. On my way home from the bus stop I found a bank envelope near a trash can and noticed it was folded and bulging. I picked it up and it have 700 dollars in it. I can assure you it was quite tempting to just keep it, but I thought about how I would feel if I had just gone to the bank and then dropped the money onthe way home. It was late so I took it home. I had to open the restaurant early in the morning so I left the envelope on my dresser. The next day I told my boss about the envelope and she laughed and said I should keep it that I would be crazy to turn it in when clearly I made peanuts. The assistant manager just told me if I wanted to turn it in I should bring it to the police department, if it got claimed it would be returned and if it didn't it would be returned to me within a months time. When I got off work I took the envelope to the police station and they told me someone had indeed filed a claim. Turned out to be a mother of 3 young kids, who had lost her partner in an accident and had to turn to social assistance for help. SHe had cashed her welfare cheque and had been on her way to pay the rent and buy groceries when she realized she lost it. I met that lady and her 3 kids. She cried when the money was returned to her because it was all the money she had for the month. Her kids were absolutely beautiful. So yes I return things. Because you just don't know the circumstances behind the item that you found!! And even if you think you need it the person who lost it could need it even more!!!

 

[Me & My Peeps]

About 5 years ago my wife went to Walmart and purchased $450.00 in gift cards for X-mas. That year we just gave out gift cards to Walmart and prepaid Visa's. Somewhere between her leaving the register and getting home, she lost them AND the reciept for them. She was almost hysterical as we did not have the ability to replace them at the time. We set a max limit for Xmas and just bought the cards.

She called up Walmart and was crying, trying to see if they could do anything about cancelling them and reissuing new ones. They told her to come back to the store and they would see if they could get the card numbers from the register she used. She got bck to the store and someone had TURNED THEM IN!!! We were soo glad and could not believe that there was still someone that would do the right thing. We asked if they left a name/number so we could thank them, but the person just said to "tell them Merry X-mas".......