Guilt-Ridden Burglar Returns Stolen Money 30 Years Later

When you do something wrong, sometimes the guilt associated with the deed can eat away at you enough to make you turn around and do the right thing. That's the case with a burglar in Hastings, Michigan. Apparently, the thief stole $800 from a store in the 1980s, and has felt so guilty about the theft that he felt the need to return it, plus interest, some 30 years later.

Local news channel 24 Hours News 8 received an anonymous letter in the mail from a burglar asking for help returning money he stole from a store that was once called Middle Mart. The letter did not contain a return address, and it was not signed.

The Barry County Sheriff's Department received the same letter as the news station, but their letter also contained $1,200 in cash --the extra $400 was interest that the thief gave the business. Part of the letter read, "I did a very bad thing that I am shamed of and have lived with this guilt."

Barry County Undersheriff Bob Baker helped find the original owner of Middle Mart and gave him the money. He described the owner's reaction: "He was shocked, just as much as everybody else was, 'cause this just does not happen every day." The store has since been renamed Greg's Get-N-Go, since the original owner sold it in 1988.

The police say they are not looking for the burglar, because too much time has passed, and the statute of limitations ran out a while ago. Plus, Undersheriff Baker believes that whoever committed the crime has learned a lesson, and has now "made amends." It certainly seems so, because in the letter, the burglar includes an apology: "I was a foolishstupid man when I did that and i amsorrie."

[Related: Thief Writes Apology Letter, Returns Stolen Gold Rings 15 Years Later]

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