A family in Holladay, Utah, is figuring out how to replace more than $1,000 in cash that their 2-year-old son sent through the shredder.
Ben and Jackee Belnap said they had been saving up cash to pay Ben’s parents back for University of Utah football season tickets. They had $1,060 in an envelope ready to go, when that envelope disappeared over the weekend. Ben and Jackee started searching the house, according to Salt Lake City television station KSL.
“I’m digging through the trash and she hollers and says, ‘I found it,’” Ben Belnap said. “She’s holding the shredder and she says, ‘I think the money is in here.’”
Jackee Belnap said their 2-year-old son, Leo, is familiar with their shredder.
“Leo helps me shred junk mail and just things with our name on it, or important documents we want to get rid of,” she said.
Leo apparently sent the envelope through the shredder sometime when they weren’t looking.
“We just, for like five minutes, we just shuffled through it, not talking. We didn’t know what to do and then I broke the silence and I’m like, ‘Well, this will make a great wedding story one day,’” Jackee said.
It turns out the couple might not be out all that money. There is a government office that deals with mutilated cash.
“I called the guy the next morning and he said, ‘Oh, we might be able to help you here,’ and I was shocked,” Ben said. “He said, ‘Bag it up in little Ziploc bags, mail it to D.C., and in one to two years, you’ll get your money back.’”
Two years might be a long time to wait, but when that money does come back, little Leo will probably still be banned from going anywhere near their shredder.