A good deed and $20,000 Cache : Update

[Captain Loosechange]

I got permission to detect an old farm house last summer. When I showed up to do it the old man and several of his family members were there at the home, they asked the usual questions about detecting and the detector and such and I went on and searched the yard and made some decent finds. Also got permission to return anytime which I haven't yet. Anyway that was last fall, fast forward to about a week ago. I get a call from my parents that the people that own the house called for their son-in-law to see if I was available to look for a lost wallet. I told them that I would and we made plans to meet the next day. The man had been plowing a garden with his tractor when he noticed his wallet was gone, I had asked on the telephone if the wallet had any metal in it and he had told me it had a zipper inside and two metal snaps on the outside. It had a place for a chain to attach also but there was no chain on it. So we met at the plowed field and I searched it in a grid north to south then east to west, disc. then all-metal, only finding the occasional piece of rusty farm impement or a nail, 1 modern .22 bullet, then finally get a faint nickel tone and low and behold I pulled out his wallet. He was ecstatic. He tried to give me a cash reward but I declined and instead asked if I could have permission to hunt the farm that this was on. He told me anytime and after a few minutes of telling me where structures used to be and what not he told me about how this was his dad's place and how his dad had him to retreive the entire contents of a safe deposit box and $20,000 cash from the bank shortly before he passed. He had told his son on his death bed that he had hidden the money and the contents from the safe depost box which included the deed to the property in a gallon size glass pickel jar and buried it "on the hill" behind the property. We talked a few minutes about the possible location and the what-if's if I were to find it. So I am in the process of drawing up an agreement for an attourney to look at and then I guess this will be my spring/summer project. The area is not ridicously large but will take some time to search thouroughly. This is the first time I have ever been given 1st hand information of a cache and probably the best lead I ever got. I know also that I may not find it, the man was sick and maybe he just thought he buried it but the son did say that they had searched the entire house and never found the money or the deed. I don't know what else if anything was in the safe deposit box, I didn't ask and he didn't say. I will update when I get to start searching. Going to get my ducks in a row before I ever even go look for it though. HH

UDATE 5-5-2009: Thanks for all the comments and interest in this post. I thought I owed it to everyone interested to give an update. I finally got the agreement written up and signed. The owner agreed to 50/50. I know that some of you seemed to think I am asking too much for this amount but you have to understand that to get to the area to search for this cache is a 45 minute drive one way from my house. It will be my gas and my time expended and I will be giving up valuable hunting time that I could be searching some other spots that I have found. I think 50/50 is reasonable given all the factors involved and the owner agreed. Right now he has 0/0 so 50/50 is a great improvement. My first hunt on the property will be this Thursday 5-7-09. As far as the property deed it obviously belongs to the son and I am looking for that for free. I may not find anything and it's not like I will be charging for my time and effort if I don't. Anyway wish me luck and I will of course update this post from time to time and definetly if the cache is found. Thanks and HH.

[stoney56]

Good luck!! You might be able to narrow the area if you check on the hill portion visible from a BR window or some place he spent a lot of time sitting.

[Cynangyl]

How exciting! Sure glad you found his wallet for him and sounds like you might have quite an adventure planned out for the summer! Good luck!

[davidtn]

What a cool story. I'll be anxious to follow this as it progresses. Please keep us posted.

What sort of agreement have you drawn up with regard to how the money would be split?

[Captain Loosechange]

What a cool story. I'll be anxious to follow this as it progresses. Please keep us posted.

What sort of agreement have you drawn up with regard to how the money would be split?

Thanks, I am going for 50/50, in our initial conversation this seemed to be the proposition however he was elated over the recovery of the wallet. Now maybe he will still be o.k. with this but I am giving time for that euphoria to fade and still see if he is o.k. with it. I think that would be fair as it is my time and equipment and sweat and up to this point he has 0% of the money. It's not like I'm going to charge him if I don't find it. Thoughts?

[Beans]

What a cool story. I'll be anxious to follow this as it progresses. Please keep us posted.

What sort of agreement have you drawn up with regard to how the money would be split?

Thanks, I am going for 50/50, in our initial conversation this seemed to be the proposition however he was elated over the recovery of the wallet. Now maybe he will still be o.k. with this but I am giving time for that euphoria to fade and still see if he is o.k. with it. I think that would be fair as it is my time and equipment and sweat and up to this point he has 0% of the money. It's not like I'm going to charge him if I don't find it. Thoughts?

Treat this guy right and you will develope a great relationship and a good name for MD'ers. Best of luck on this.

[lastleg]

Don't be surprised if landlord pulls a DIY project instead of forking
over half. Luck to ya . . . . lastleg

[Kentucky Kache]

This is my kind of story...great feelin', ain't it.

[Bridge End Farm]

wish you the best, no telling what you might find on that place,

maybe something worth more then $10,000

a dear friend

good luck

[CDMakaKvM]

Do you know how lucky you are to get a first hand lead with permission to search? I've been detecting on & off for about 20 years and never had a lead handed to me like that. It's a great story. I hope you find it!

[oldcoyote]

Well, this is just me, mind you, but I THINK I would look on a situation like this a little differently. There doesn't seem to be any question of who hid the stash, or whose land it's on, or who brought the subject up or who the rightful owner is. OK, so I'm too old to be very mercenary about such stuff I guess. I'd probly be inclined to look on it as doing a favor for a neighbor while having a lot of fun in the process. This would put me more in a position of an agent on behalf of the owner, with every intention of delivering the stash to him with the lid still rusted on it. I'd get a big boot out of that, and a good deal of satisfaction. Chances are, he'd give me a few souvenirs out of there and let me write up the yarn (no names, etc.) for WET or somebody so I could brag a little.

[lastleg]

Captain: Sometimes we read posts about possible windfalls and in our glee we
overlook key details so I ask you explain the part about "buried it on 'the hill'
BEHIND the property."

Why would someone in their right mind take a pickle jar with the deed to the land
and 20K to a hill behind his property and bury it?

I admit I missed it on first reading. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

Thanks, lastleg

[allen]

good job on helping the man
and good luck on finding the money !!!!

[jb7487]

I have to agree with oldcoyote on this. I think a 50/50 split is probably way too much to expect. As someone else pointed out, he could easily do a DIY and cut you completely out of the loop. I'd be inclined to tell him that you'd be happy to help him find it and all that you'd expect in return is a small reward. The amount of the reward can be specified up front or left up to his discretion. It's up to you. I would think that if he gave you $1000 bucks that would be pretty darn generous considering the circumstances.

But hey... what do I know?!?

[am-ark]

[ivan salis]

know this-- often with hoarders -- the cache sites most likely was within line of sight / gun range of where they lived at -- so he could look out the windows of where he lived and see it and if anyone was messing about --- ( by seeing it he could protect it from theft ) --or esle it was hidden at a favorite "spot " say a --sitting and thinking spot he liked --say at the bottom of the tree that was his favorite deer hunting stand / fishing spot ---or along the old fenceline posthole --or hidden buried in the corner post of the barn / chicken coop --if anyone was mucking about at night looking for it the animals act as a "free" alarm system ---- since he was sick most likely it wasn't too far -- note old hoarders like that might have more than just 1 cache

[davidtn]

Is there an update to this story? I'm not that far from you if you need any assistance...I'd do it just for the fun of it.

[Moonshadow]

Yep....I can't wait to hear the rest of the story either. It's Spring/Summer now. Hop to it and good luck!

HH,
Moon

[trikikiwi]

What an exciting opportunity
I hope you will keep us informed on your progress and any other finds you make at the site.

Personally, I would tell the guy to decide for himself how much of the cache he hands over to you.

Best of luck with the Hunt.
Mike

[MD Dog]

One thing I don't think anyone is considering. The value of the deed will probably far outweigh the small change of $20.000. Most farms are 25 acres or more and with associated buildings run into the $100,000 + area. The farm has a recorded deed that can be duplicated, but a original floating around out there could lead to legal challenges as to who owns what. Nothing is ever cut and dried anymore. Just wanted you to consider all the possible ramifications that are possible with such an endeavor.