The town council of Bastrop Texas decided on Monday that Timothy Yost, a middle-aged homeless man, would be allowed to keep $77,000 he found in a bag this January. Yost stumbled (literally) upon the bag while going to wash his feet in the Colorado River, and found it to contain mounds of wet bills, as well as fortygold krugerrands (a South African currency). When he tried to deposit it at the local bank, a teller asked him to wait while the bills dried and called the police. After contacting the FBI and following up on a series of false claims to the money, the town council decided to award it to Yost under Texas finders-keepers laws. He will have to wait to spend it, however, as he is currently in jail for public intoxication.
Asked how he would spend the money, Yost told reporters he would buy a car. “I’ve been walking for so long,” explained the 46-year old. // Patrick Barrett
