Fishers find $100,000 in lake safe at Flushing Meadows Park

A pair of anglers had been spending their time not so much catching fish in the lake at Flushing Meadows Park as retrieving valuable items. This time, however, their haul surpassed their wildest expectations. A safe full of money got attached to their magnet baiting line.

The surprising catch occurred on May 31 at the lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York. Experienced treasure hunters James Kane and Barbie Agostini cast a line with a strong magnet.

The magnet was strong enough to attach to an old safe. The sight of the safe was not surprising to the pair, as they had already caught empty safes in the water numerous times. But this one was exceptional—it turned out to be full of money!

"It was two stacks of freaking hundreds. Big stacks!" said James Kane in an interview with NY1 station.

After counting, it turned out that the safe contained about $100,000.

The anglers called the police to the scene. The officers who inspected the safe admitted with amazement that they had never encountered anything like it.

Even more surprising was their decision regarding the money in the safe. They allowed the couple to keep the entire find. Identifying the owner of the cash from the safe proved impossible. There were no documents, and nothing indicated that the found cash was connected to a crime. Unfortunately for the finders, many of the banknotes were soaked and damaged.

The unusual anglers confessed that they have been engaged in “magnet fishing” for several years, starting during the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, they have found, among other things, 19th-century weapons, World War II grenades, and a motorcycle.