Found money

What a great feeling to reach into the pocket of a coat you haven’t worn for a while and pull out $5. A windfall. Money you didn’t know you had.

Lake County Indiana is right over the Illinois border, hard against Lake Michigan. The cops pull over a speeding 1996 Explorer and begin interviewing the driver, 27-year-old Erica Aramula-Fonseca. The officer notices that she is nervous and can’t tell him where she’s headed.

Out comes the K-9 unit to take a whiff. No drugs but the strong odor that there had been drugs in the SUV recently. Lo and behond, they find $440,000 in cash under a false floor!

Like the $5 in the jacket pocket, she says, “Now where did that come from? I don’t know who that belongs to or how it got in my car.”

Erica was released, sans the cash and sans the car.

Now I’ve got three different news reports of the event in front of me. Here’s what they say…

The Post-Tribune: “Fonseca, who said she was an illegal resident and apparently had no prior criminal record, faced only traffic violations and was released. Dominguez conceded Lake County officials likely will never see her again. “

CBS 2 Chicago: “The driver of the vehicle has been released until charges can be filed. She told police she was not in the United States legally. “

The NWI Times made no mention of her immigration status and merely said: “The suspect, who was not charged as of Wednesday, said she had no prior knowledge of the money, police said.”
Erica’s got some ‘splainin’ to do when she gets home.

Meanwhile, next time you drive over to The Dunes, check out the Lake County Sheriffs. They’ll be easy to spot; their squad cars will be BMWs!