TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A sanitation team from Taichung City’s Beitun District was dismantling a discarded wooden wardrobe when they discovered NT$200,000 (US$6,183) in cash, bank deposit books, records of stock purchases, and a thick gold chain.

Upon making the discovery, they contacted police who were eventually able to locate the owner of the furniture and the lost items. The individual, surnamed Hsu (徐), said the items belonged to his mother, who passed away three years ago, and he was delighted to recover her possessions. 

Taichung City Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) said on Tuesday (June 4) that it had received a request a few days before to retrieve 70 pieces of large household furniture. The furniture was stored in a city-owned facility as it awaited manual dismantling with combustible materials to be incinerated and iron and steel parts recycled, per CNA.

When a member of the sanitation team, surnamed Tsai (蔡), was sorting through materials the cash fell out of the wardrobe. After a search, a total of NT$200,000 was recovered, along with a gold chain that also had a market value of NT$200,000, stock ownership documents, and multiple bankbooks.

Due to the value of the items recovered, the EPB immediately contacted the police. The police searched the bankbook for information as well as a logbook for garbage removal services. Later, Shuinan Police Station was asked to contact Hsu and confirm whether or not the items belonged to him. 

Hsu said that each of the items was left behind by his mother. He was especially grateful for the return of the neckklace as he said it brings back memories of his deceased mother.

Beitun District Sanitation Team leader Sung Bao-rui (宋寶瑞) said there have been four instances where valuable items have been recovered when discarded furniture during the dismantling process. Sung said the total amount of cash recovered was NT$250,000 with other precious items such as land deeds also being recovered, with each item returned to their rightful owner.