New York, United States

A couple in New York, United States pulled out a safe which had around $100,000 in cash out of a lake while they were “magnet fishing”. The couple found the safe at the bottom of the lake in Corona Park. 

Advertisment

What did they find?

The couple, James Kane and Barbie Agostini, in an interview with NY1, spoke about the finding and how they pulled the safe after tossing a strong magnet attached with a line into a lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, on Friday (May 31) afternoon. 

Once the safe was pulled out of the water, according to the couple, they managed to open it and found approximately $100,000 in bundles of $100 bills. However, the money was damaged due to water. 

Advertisment

Also Read | Masked maniac flashes vile ‘Kill Hostages Now’ sign amid NYC Israel Day Parade

“It was two stacks of freaking hundreds. Big stacks,” Kane told NY1. He also told the media outlet that this wasn’t the first safe they had found. “We have found plenty of safes before,” he said. 

Kane added, “And then I saw the numbers and thought: ‘This is not possible.’” Unfortunately, the notes were “soaking wet, pretty much destroyed,” he said. 

Advertisment

The couple called the New York Police Department (NYPD) to avoid any legal trouble over their discovery. The call led a number of officers to show up just to check out the bizarre call that had come over the radio. 

The NYPD personnel said they had never seen anything like it. Agostini said that since there were no IDs or a way to find the owner of the safe, the police “were like ‘well, congratulations!’”

“I guess the finders keepers rule worked for us,” Kane said. 

‘Poor man’s treasure hunting’

During the interview, Kane explained that he had always wanted to be a treasure hunter so when the couple was bored during the Covid lockdown, they found there was something called magnet fishing. 

Also Read | 'National tragedy': Survey reveals 1 in 3 Americans are affected by drug overdose deaths

Magnet fishing is essentially trailing a line with a strong magnet through lakes and rivers to see what they can find. 

Kane called the hobby “the poor man’s treasure hunting".

The couple said they’ve never found anything like this, saying that they have previously  pulled out items such as old guns, World War II grenades, a full-sized motorcycle, foreign coins, and jewellery.

(With inputs from agencies)