The Lawrenceburg Police Department knew when they posted about it on Facebook, they needed to be vague yet specific

December 15, 2020

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (WKRC) - Nearly $900 found in downtown Lawrenceburg is back with its rightful owner. The Good Samaritan who discovered the cash only hesitated for a moment before turning it over to police.

Decorations are being hung all over Lawrenceburg. There are snowflakes, twinkle lights, a huge tree, decorated windows and snowmen. Lisa Weinmann of the Whiskey City Antique Mall says the Indiana town does the holidays big. She's even on the Winter Wonderland Committee.

"We have an amazing little town, great people. Full of cheer and charity and love and kindness," Weinmann said.

Santa's good list this year will definitely have this name: Alex Harrison.

"It was just lying flat on the ground with the $1 bill flapping. That's why I thought I just found $1, and then we picked it up and it was a whole bundle," Harrison said.

Harrison was with his dad coming home from Hollywood Casino when he made that surprising find.

"We had that one moment of like, 'What do you do with it?' but this close to Christmas and that much money too, we just knew we had to give it back," Harrison said.

"There was a gentleman that came in here and said he found a boatload of money and he turned it into our clerk," said Chief Donald Combs Jr.

Combs says when it first happened, Harrison didn't leave his name. He walked in, dropped off the money and left.

The Lawrenceburg Police Department knew when they posted about it on Facebook, they needed to be vague yet specific. They didn't want a bunch of people showing up saying they lost the cash. The post read: "Have you lost anything in or around the 200 block of Walnut Street? The person that has lost this property would definitely know that it's missing. Call the Lawrenceburg Police Department to identify your property. 812-537-2284."

That same day, a man walked into the police station said he lost a wad of cash.

Combs says, "He described exactly how much he had and the bills and the denominations and a certain rubber band around it."

The total amount was $882. He told police the money fell out when he reached into his pocket to grab his car keys.

"A lot of people may not have done that. The person who owns the money appreciates it, as well" said Combs.

Harrison didn't really want credit either:

"I kind of wanted to keep it low-key. Then mom and grandpa got to run on Facebook and let everybody know what you did, but it's fine with me. As long as someone gets to see good acts like that and helps people do something like that it's fine by me," he said.

The recent college graduate lives in Cincinnati. He says earlier in the night before he found the missing money, he won at the casino.