N.H. boy finds, returns backpack with $8K in cash

[May 08, 2009]  ALTON, N.H. (AP) -- A 10-year-old boy picking up litter in Alton, N.H., found a backpack stuffed with more than $8,000 cash.

Arie Johnston, of Dover, was helping his grandmother with her town's annual roadside cleanup when he spotted the burned backpack Saturday. He told Foster's Daily Democrat his first thought was that someone had killed someone for the money.

Johnston's grandmother called the town clerk, who identified the bag's owner based on the passports and other documents found with the money. The owner was a woman who had lived across the street until a fire damaged her apartment last year.

Police said the woman has since moved to Maine and has asked that her belongings be given to her sister who lives in Alton. Johnston's grandmother said a reward may be coming.

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Information from: Foster's Daily Democrat, http://www.fosters.com/

[Associated Press]

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