Dad Whose Family Found $14,000 Returns the Money as a Teachable Moment

What would you do if you found thousands of dollars just laying on the side of the road?

A family in Worthington, Ohio was faced with that dilemma when they discovered a stash of cash — $14,000 — on a Saturday trip to the park with no one around to claim it. Should they keep it or return it to its rightful owner? Rather than keep the dough — which could have meant a lot to the Bowers family — the father, Jake Bowers, decided to use the scenario as a teachable moment for his two sons.

“It was a good opportunity to teach the kids about doing the right thing. While that money could have meant paying off our cars or going on a vacation to us, it may have meant groceries or sustenance to someone else,” he told Ohio television station WBNS.

It was April 8 when Jack Bowers was driving down a suburban road with his family when he noticed a blue felt bag on the side of the street. He thought it may have been someone’s laptop bag so his curiosity got the best of him.

“My wife was driving and I said ‘honey, turn around there’s something in the road back there. It was off to the side a little bit almost in the gutter. We grabbed the bag and the kids said what is it!? There were a couple of envelopes and you could see inside they were stuffed with 100 dollar bills,” Jack Bowers told WBNS.

Without hesitation, Bowers and his family drove the money straight to the Worthington Police station and filed a police report. A wallet including the owner’s ID helped detectives get the money back to its rightful owner.

Your Daily Dish obtained a copy of the report from Worthington Chief of Police Jerry L. Strait, Jr.

“The owner, Calvin Dyer, stated that he had gone to the Northpointe Auto Group (car dealer) on Huntley Road to look at a car for sale,” the report read. “He decided to not buy the car and had left the business without making a purchase. Mr. Dyer stated that he must have placed the bag on the roof of his car, forgot about it, and drove off with the bag still on his roof. Upon realizing that he had forgotten the bag, Mr. Dyer returned to the car lot to check with them if they had found it.”

“Mr. Dyer collected the funds on the 13 of April,” Strait told Your Daily Dish. “He was going to make contact with Mr. Bowers and was very happy that Mr. Bowers had turned the funds into the police. Although not verbatim, he had made a comment to the Sergeant that he spoke with the finder, who was already a rich man based upon his ethics and values.  I’ve seen others turn in cash but this is by far the largest some of funds that I’ve seen someone turn into the agency.”

Jack Bowers and his family re-enacted the moment when they found the money. His eldest son was none too thrilled with his father’s decision.

“We could like build a house (with that money),” he told WBNS. “Happy days. We finally got the money back.”

The Bowers family said they were just happy they were able to help.