Mysterious safe washes up on beach in Texas, video shows. See what’s inside

Mitchell Willetts
·2 min read
196

A researcher combing a stretch of Texas coastline for animal life came across something unexpected — an algae-covered safe sitting in the sand.

It’s not the first time Jace Tunnell has stumbled onto something unusual, as strange garbage and forgotten items often wash up along the 40-mile span of beach he surveys.

But a locked safe? He had to take a closer look and know what was inside.

Jace Tunnell moves the safe around on the beach, testing its weight and listening for any objects inside.
Jace Tunnell moves the safe around on the beach, testing its weight and listening for any objects inside.

“What is one thing I want to find on the beach when I’m doing my beach surveys, looking for sea turtles and birds and all that? A bag of money, right?” he said in a video shared on YouTube.

Well, he didn’t find a bag of money, but a safe could be the next best thing. Or maybe it could hold something even better.

Tunnell is the director of the Mission-Aransas Reserve at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, and over the years he and his team have documented a wide variety of bizarre finds — including abandoned rafts and an ever-growing collection of creepy dolls.

Tunnell loaded the safe into the back of a pickup truck and recruited some help in cracking it open, video shows.

Gathered around the safe, the group slowly tears away its defenses.

Jace Tunnell and others forced the safe open using crowbars, hammers and a metal grinder.
Jace Tunnell and others forced the safe open using crowbars, hammers and a metal grinder.

Armed with crowbars, a sledgehammer and metal grinder, it took about an hour to break open the safe, Tunnell told McClatchy News.

Eventually, they rip the door right off and he gets a look inside, video shows. There’s a single object laying at the bottom.

“Silica gel! What?! We’re rich!” he says, holding the worthless bounty up for the small crowd gathered.

After ripping the door off the safe, Tunnell discovered what was inside.
After ripping the door off the safe, Tunnell discovered what was inside.

Another person jokes the packet could actually be a very small shipment of cocaine.

While rolling the safe around in the sand earlier, Tunnell predicted it would be empty, video shows.

He’s a little disappointed that he was right, he told McClatchy News.

“I was really hoping for stacks of cash,” he said. “Maybe next time.”

Judging by the amount of algae on the safe, it had likely been lost at sea for several months, Tunnell said. But with no markings or signage, there’s no way to know where it came from or how it ended up in the Texas Gulf Coast.