A man in northern Illinois found a valuable surprise in his backyard Tuesday afternoon: A duffle bag filled with stacks of $20 bills.
As Wayne Sabaj, a 49-year-old unemployed carpenter living in Johnsburg, explained to WGN,
he had been looking for broccoli in his garden when he saw the duffle bag. After Sabaj showed the bag to his father, with whom he lives, they decided to alert police.
When the McHenry Sheriff's Department arrived, they discovered a second bag. All told, the bags contained $150,000.
Sabaj told the
Northwest Herald that
he briefly considered keeping the money for himself, but he feared not only where the money had come from, but who might be coming back to retrieve it.
"I went and spent my last $10 on cigarettes yesterday, but I turned in $150,000," Sabaj said.
"
I haven't worked in two years. Yeah, I was like, I could really use this money," the man told ABC7. "With my luck, it would be bank robbery and I'd get caught and say I'd robbed a bank."
The bags are now in the custody of police, who are processing them for fingerprints and any other evidence, according to the
Northwest Herald. There are currently no suspects. In the bags' place, investigators left a business card listing a phone number and a "please call" note. If an owner is not identified, police indicated they may assist Sabaj in determining whether he can claim the money
