Airman Finds and Returns $9,000 in Cash

By Air Force News Tuesday, May 04, 1999

Archives - Good Samaritans 1997-2003

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Good guys still exist, and one of them is an airman from the 25th Intelligence Squadron here, who recently returned more than $9,000 in found money.

Heading home in his car after a late-night training flight, Senior Airman Jason Baxter crossed an intersection that was well lit, and he saw what he thought was a book, maybe a Bible, lying in the road.

He said his thought was, “If that was mine, I'd want someone to return it to me.” So he stopped to pick it up. The book turned out to be a leather appointment book, with two zippered pockets on the outside.

Looking in the first pocket, he found about six dollars and a driver's license. But when he opened the second pocket, “There was a big wad of cash - hundred-dollar bills,” Baxter said.

Once he arrived home, he counted the money. There was more than $9,000 cash.

For some, the decision might be difficult. Not so for Baxter.


The sheriff's department sent a deputy to Baxter's home who retrieved the appointment book and money.

Its owner, Karrie Jo Blakston, 19, and her boyfriend had withdrawn the cash earlier in the day.

They were going to use the money to pay for their wedding. Blakston had forgotten the appointment book on top of her car and driven away.

The deputy said Blackston was, “Elated, and thankful that there are still some honest people in the world.”