Cash returned, faith in humanity restored
Published: February 8, 2006
John Foutch had written off the $646 in cash he lost last fall while on his way to a dream vacation in Hawaii.
But now, he’s not only gotten his money back, he’s developed a new faith in people.
Cathy Hargis, a federal airport security screener, found the cash stuck beneath the security checkpoint conveyor belt at Blue Grass Airport last week. It was returned to Foutch yesterday.
Foutch seemed just as pleased at meeting Hargis as he was at being reunited with his cash.
“As a police officer, I don’t ever see people like you — ever,” Foutch, an officer with the Nicholasville Police Department, told Hargis. He said he was thankful that she had the “level of integrity” to turn the money in.
Hargis found the money, which was inside a bank cash envelope with a withdrawal receipt, while checking the conveyor belt for a lost identification paper belonging to another passenger. The cash envelope was caught on a metal flange beneath the belt.
Items that get trapped in the belt usually fall through to the floor, but it’s not uncommon for things like coins and paper to get stuck in the machinery, airport workers say.
“You don’t usually find that much cash. A lot of times it’s jewelry, id’s …,” Hargis said.
Foutch, who lives in Mercer County, flew out of Blue Grass with his wife and another couple on their way to Hawaii on Sept. 11. He said he put the envelope and travel papers in a bowl on the conveyor belt leading to the X-ray machine, then grabbed the papers after they passed through the machine, thinking he had everything.
“There were other people behind me and I was trying to hurry,” he said. “When we got to Atlanta I had a gut feeling something was wrong.”
One of his travel companions called Blue Grass about the missing money, but apparently Transportation Security Administration workers did not get word of the loss.
Foutch got by with his credit cards and other resources while in Hawaii, he said.
“We ended up having a good time,” he said. “I put it out of my mind.”
Hargis will be recognized for “service above and beyond the call of duty,” said Lanny Miller, the federal security chief at the airport. That recognition could come in the form of money or extra time off from work, he said.
“I certainly didn’t want to miss the opportunity to meet her,” Foutch said. Turning to Hargis, he added, “because honestly, you could have just kept your mouth shut.”
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