The Investigators
Exclusive: We crack the case of the missing money at the Providence Police
Now to a case of missing money inside the Providence Police Department.
A local woman finds hundreds of dollars at Providence Place and turns it over to police. But then, the money mysteriously disappears!
This woman says she was trying to do the right thing by turning in the money.
But when she checked to see if the owner had come forward to claim it...the police "claimed" the money was gone!
"I found money! and lots of it..$300 dollars in cold hard cash."
Denise Tavares was at Providence Place with her daughter and husband- in January of 2003.. When a trip to the a.t.m. Turned into "found money"
�As I was coming back I looked down and there was some green something! I took a closer look and there was cash! �
300 dollars all in 20 dollar bills...Denise says it never crossed her mind to keep it-especially with her daughter standing there, she wanted teach her right from wrong.
�So when we found this money we're not going to show her that whatever you find you keep because it's not yours! it didn't belong to us. �
So Denise turned the cash over to the providence police and even gets this reciept with a claim number as proof! several weeks go by and Denise decides to call to see if the owner of the cash came forward.
�Well nobody could help me because they didn't know what i was talking about at first.� but finally, after several more calls, Denise says the police told her the money was sent over to the treasurers office, as unclaimed cash...
�It didn't sound right, not because i wanted the money, but because somewhere, something is amis.�
Denise's friends encourage her to make another call. �they said i think you can go to Susan Hogan.� the Eyewitness News Investigators called the Providence Oolice and we were told the same thing, so we called the treasurers office and asked them if they ever received $300 from the providence police...they didn't, not even one cent once again we called the Providence Oolice this morning and told them the treasurers office has no record of this money every being handed in over the past year....an hour and a half later, after our call, the money mysteriously appears...
�I'm really upsest that not one police officer, not one inspector, detective, sargeant, didn't do what they told me they did on the phone..that it was going to the treasury.�
The inspector didn't have an answer as to how this money suddenly appeared in the property room this morning after missing for more than a year.
The law on "found money" is clear, but apparently the officer in charge of it wasn't. But after our investigation, we're told, he will be. The inspector also said they will re-evaluate their policy on missing money and next time do a better job on keeping track of it. By the way, the money will now be turned over to the person who deserves it...Denise Tavares.
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