JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Imagine just walking along and then spotting a bank envelope full of money. What would you do?
Well, one Jacksonville woman actually did -- and she turned it in to police. Now, it's sitting in the evidence room at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the only thing Deborah Belligerante wants is for the rightful owner to claim it.
"I truly believe God made me find it because he knew I would turn it in," she said.
Belligerante told News4Jax that she and her friend found nearly $2,000 in a bank envelope that was lying on the ground at an area hardware store on Friday afternoon.
"So when we got in the car, because I felt that it was kind of fat, I opened it and it was about two grand in there," she said. "The money just kept coming and coming, and I was, like, 'Holy smokes, this is unbelievable.'"
Her friend, Harry Eubanks, added, "She kept folding it back and it got larger and larger."
Belligerante said she's surprised no one else had spotted the envelope because she said it appeared to have been run over several times with a cart.
Her first thought was to call the Sheriff's Office.
"Because it was a substantial amount of money and somebody may need that," she said.
It happens that Belligerante is no stranger to making valuable discoveries.
On Thursday, she found her neighbor's grandmother's gold necklace.
"This is the mailbox where I found the jewelry," she showed News4Jax.
But whatever ends up in her hands, gets turned in.
"You know, you find change or a dollar. But this is different. You can't keep something like that," she said. "I'm hoping that the rightful owner watches your news and can go claim it -- identify it and claim it."
Belligerante said she herself lost a black rosary at an offsite airport parking lot and she hopes someone will find it and pay it forward.
She added JSO told her that if the money isn't claimed, she could possibly get it back. But she said she would donate most of it.
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