Pregnant woman returns $4K found in parking lot

August 8, 2013 (MERRILLVILLE, Ind.) (WLS) -- A woman who really could have used the $4,000 in cash she found in a Merrillville, Ind., parking lot said because she was with her young daughter, the decision about what to do with the cash was clear.

Both Shannon Baker and her husband were out of work. Their cars were in need of repair and her baby was due in a few weeks. So when she found an envelope filled with $4,000 cash in this parking lot. She had lots of uses for it. So what did she do? She brought it to the police department.

"My kid was standing right there when I found it," she said. "So basically I taught my daughter how to be honest. And for me that was fine."

She says none of her friends or family could believe she turned it in. The woman who lost the money had just left the same store Baker had been in. It was money that belonged to the woman's employer and had fallen out of her pocket.

A few days after claiming the money from police the woman, who is in her 70's, showed up at Baker's door without giving her name.

"She came to my house and she was almost in tears, thanking me," Baker said. "She gave me a hug and an envelope with a small amount in it."

Baker says Merrillville police were surprised when she turned the money in. They said there was nothing illegal about it if she kept it.

But since she turned it in, she would get it back in 180 days if no one claimed it. Someone did claim it within a month, but Baker says at least she has a clear conscience.

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local, john garcia

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