Woman Returns $4,000 She Found in Envelope

Anyone who has ever been unemployed knows how enticing it would be to keep an envelope you found full of cash on the ground. When Shannon Baker came across an envelope containing $4,000 outside of a vitamin store in Merrillville, Indiana, however, she decided she would do the right thing. Baker and husband could certainly have used the money. Their car needs repairs, and she was eight months pregnant at the time. Instead, she turned it in at the local police station, hoping that the rightful owner would claim it.

So why the good deed? It may be due in part to the company Baker was keeping that day. She was with her young daughter, and she knew that in addition to it being the right thing to do, turning in the envelope would also be an important lesson in honesty. Baker told WLS-TV, "My kid was standing right there when I found it. So basically I taught my daughter how to be honest. And for me that was fine."

Even the police were surprised that she turned in the money, saying that it wouldn't have been illegal had she kept it. And, sure enough, a few days later, a woman in her 70s showed up to collect it, naming the exact denomination contained to prove it really was hers. The woman showed up at Baker's door and gave her a card with a small amount of cash in it, thanking her for her honesty. Baker says the act was a small price to pay for a clear conscience.

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