An 80-Year-Old Mother’s 18 Million Won Savings Almost Thrown Away in a Dump... "Discovered by a Police Officer"

Hidden Cash Inside Mattress Disposed as Waste
New Police Officer Finds and Reports at Recycling Center

An elderly woman in her 80s had 18 million won in cash hidden inside her bed mattress, which was accidentally thrown away in a garbage disposal area but was returned to her thanks to a police officer’s report. The quick action of a newly appointed police officer prevented a major loss.

According to the police on the 25th, Go Seong-ju (25), a newly appointed police officer, went out to dispose of an old desk at a recycling station in Baegun-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi Province, at around 2:16 p.m. on the 24th, which was his day off. At that moment, something unusual caught his eye. A mattress had been discarded at the recycling station, and between its folds, several crumpled 50,000 won and 10,000 won bills were visible. Surprised by this, Officer Go immediately reported it to 112. Shortly after, officers from the Wonsun Police Substation of the Ansan Danwon Police Station arrived at the scene.

New police officer Goseongju discovered a bundle of money in a mattress discarded at an apartment recycling station
[Photo by Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency, Yonhap News]

The officers took out all the bills from inside the mattress and, with the cooperation of bank employees, began counting the money using a bill counting machine. As a result, the discarded mattress contained 120 bills of 50,000 won and 1,197 bills of 10,000 won. Altogether, the amount reached 17.97 million won. The officers immediately started searching for the owner of the money. After checking the address on the waste disposal sticker attached to the mattress and with the help of the apartment security guard, they were fortunately able to locate the mattress’s owner.

The owner of the mattress was an elderly woman in her 80s, Ms. B, who lived in the apartment complex. Having lost her husband and living alone for about two years, Ms. B had been receiving 1 million won monthly from her son for living expenses, and she had been storing the leftover money tucked inside the mattress.

On the day the mattress was discarded, remodeling work was scheduled at Ms. B’s home. However, her child, who had come from out of town and was unaware that Ms. B had saved money inside the mattress, decided to throw it away. As the interior contractor moved the mattress to the recycling station, Ms. B nearly lost a large sum of money. Fortunately, thanks to the keen eye of the new police officer and the prompt response of the dispatched officers, all the money was recovered.

A police official stated, "Fortunately, the newly appointed police officer on field training discovered the cash inside the waste and responded quickly, preventing any damage. We are relieved that Ms. B was able to recover all the money she had saved."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.