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ITD worker finds $843 along roadside, returns it to owner

It started with a $20 bill; a short time later it had grown to $843.

Inflation? No, a roadside windfall.

New Meadows maintenance technician Rick Dreyer was returning a backhoe to the shop on Oct. 3 when he spotted the greenback on the side of the road about three miles north of the shed. Dreyer stopped to take a closer look. As he looked closer, and expanded his search, he found a total of $843 over about a 200-yard area.

He also found a driver’s license, a set of car keys, the title to a 4-wheeler, and some other paperwork. There was no phone number, so he just ran the other materials back to the owner’s address listed on the license.

“The first thing she said was, ‘did you find any money with it?’” Dreyer said when a woman greeted him at the door. “She had cashed her check to buy groceries in McCall, put the purse on her bumper to unload the groceries, and forgot to grab the purse. She drove about 16-18 miles before it fell off the back."

Dreyer said the $843 would have been a substantial bonus for the week, but feels good about returning it.

“I’ll tell you what – that was one ol’ gal who was really glad to have the money back. It was probably all she had,” Dreyer said.