Roommates buy used couch, find $40,000 in cash

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) — Three roommates who bought a lumpy old sofa at a thrift store found $40,000 in cash stashed inside and returned the money to the 91-year-old upstate New York widow who had hidden it there.

Social worker Cally Guasti tells The Associated Press Thursday that she and her two roommates found the money stuffed in envelopes hidden in the couch they bought from the Salvation Army in early March.

State University of New York at New Paltz student Reese Werkhoven is one of Guasti’s roommates. The New York City man told other media outlets they started searching after he found the first batch of cash.

The roommates found a woman’s name on a deposit slip. After discussing options, the roommates contacted her and delivered the money the next day.