A special find may give a boost to the city’s general fund.
At about 3 p.m. Thursday, a worker found an olive-green canvas satchel buried inside a wall at 5 West Harrison St. More importantly, it contained cash.
The unidentified city employee was conducting an inspection based on rumors of someone breaking into the house, which is owned by the city and used only for fire practice.
“We had a report that someone had broken into the building and was probably seeking wiring or other metal to resell,” Mayor Tom Stinebaugh said. “But that stuff was removed from the house some time ago.”
The worker discovered several holes in a few of the interior walls. Upon further investigation, he recovered the satchel in one of them.
The 13 packs of bills were each wrapped in blue rubber bands, similar to those used by the Wapakoneta Daily News. On top of each pack was a $100 bill, but otherwise contained bills of random denominations. A count by Wapakoneta Police Chief Russel Hunlock revealed the total at $160,401. The bills date to the 1930s. Local historians note that there were reports of the Dillinger gang being in the area following his escape from the Lima jail.
Anyone with information pertaining to how this money may have gotten into one of the walls of the property is asked to email editor@wapakwdn.com with the subject “gotcha.”