Ohio man finds $10K buried under basement, tracks down previous owner’s son to share it

“I just kind of felt like ‘woah’, like ‘huh,’” Castanedo told WTOL. “Because you read about this stuff but you never actually see it. And then when it’s right there in front of you, it’s kind of hard to process.”

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He was gutting the basement when he found $10,000 in cash. Most of the money was in five envelopes between two bricks, but he also found a handful of $100 bills underneath bricks where a potbelly stove used to be.

“They were black, but you could just make out when I shined a light on it. There were 100s in the corners,” Castanedo said.

WTOL reported that the latest bill is dated 1981.

The homeowner said he suspects the money had been stashed in the basement for decades and thought of the others who lived in the home before he bought it. This led him to seek out the previous residents and he eventually found Andrew Aranyosi.

Castanedo told WTOL that he called Aranyosi and told him what he found.

“I said, ‘Look, I found something in your basement. I found some money in your basement and I’d like to split it with you,’” he explained.

Castanedo learned that Aranyosi lived in the house from 1946-1967. His father bought it in 1937 and lived there until he died 30 years ago.

Aranyosi told WTOL that he didn’t know about the money before Castanedo reached out. He suspects his father hid the money.

“The $10,000 I would say my father definitely tucked that somewhere in the bricks or wherever,” Aranyosi said.

Castanedo and Aranyosi spit that money 50/50.

“He found it; it was his, but to have him call and everything was unbelievable,” Aranyosi said.

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