The friends purchased the sofa from a Salvation Army store in February.
According to The Little Rebellion, after watching a movie, students reported feeling wrinkles in two side pillows built into the couch.
Werkhoven, a geology student at SUNY New Paltz, told CBS News, “There were these bubble wraps, like two or three of them. “We ripped them out and it was like we were panicking, like one and a half hundred dollar bills. »
The friends almost tore the couch apart in confusion at what they had discovered.
Once all the packages were opened, they quickly counted the money and took photos along the way. The total amount was a whopping $41,000!
“You count more and more money and get excited, like Reese is thinking about buying his mom a car and a boat,” said Russo, a SUNY graduate.
But the students’ joy turned to moral doubt when they saw that one of the envelopes had a woman’s name on it.
“The one on the right disappeared very quickly after he found this piece of paper with his name on it. Because we didn’t deserve that money,” said Guasti, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.
In order to find the true owner of the fortune, the students’ parents helped search for him. The parents also told their children not to tell anyone about the stash so that it would not be stolen. “The one on the right disappeared very quickly after he found this piece of paper with his name on it. Because we didn’t deserve that money,” said Guasti, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.
In order to find the true owner of the fortune, the students’ parents helped search for him. The parents also told their children not to tell anyone about the stash so that it would not be stolen.
Werkhoven’s mother finally found the woman in a phone book and the young man called her.
“I’m like, ‘I found something that I think is yours and she’s like, ‘What?!'” and I’m like, ‘I found a couch,’ and then she’s like, ‘ Oh my God, I left a lot of money there.’” Couch,” Werkhoven said.
Friends of the old woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she had told them that her ailing husband had given her a lot of money before he died so that she would have some after his death.
Not knowing where to put it, she hid it under the old sofa in her room. She said she kept her savings on the couch for 30 years. Not long ago, she had back surgery and spent a few months in a recovery center.
While she was there, her doctors told her children to get her a new couch to relieve her back pain. This is what happened at the Salvation Army.
“We almost didn’t choose this sofa,” Russo told thelittlerebellion.com. “It’s pretty ugly and smelly, but it was the only sofa that was the right size for our living room. »
The three people said they didn’t feel guilty because they did the right thing, and even went to dinner with the old woman and her family after returning the money.
“I think everyone can do good if they want to,” Werkhoven told CBS News.
“I think it happened the way it was supposed to and to be honest I don’t think much about it,” Russo added.
But the Good Samaritans didn’t walk away with nothing. The woman gave the three children $1,000 to share!
