9-yr-old found envelope under floor mat in new family car—the surprise inside changed his life and the former owner's
Kids often rummage around the house and often bring their parents amusing little "treasures." But when nine-year-old Landon Melvin discovered a mysterious package in his dad’s car, his father didn’t take him seriously, until he saw it for himself. Speaking to WRTV, Michael Melvin reveals the crazy story of a treasure his son found under the floorboard of their car in May 2021.
Landon was cleaning his dad's car when he found a package. He ran to his father to show it, but his dad dismissed it as some silly thing his son wanted to show him. "I was like, he's nine. You found something, OK? No, Dad, I really did. I walk over. I think it's paperwork of some sort," Michael said. The Melvins had purchased a Chevy Suburban a year ago, and with five kids, their lives have been busy. Hence, cleaning under the floorboards wasn't a priority until Landon discovered the treasure, an envelope packed with checks and cash worth $5,000. "I look at him and run inside. I go upstairs. I start calling my wife, 'Hey, babe, you've got to check this out!'" Michael recalled. "And that's when we dump it on the bed, and money falls over the bed."
Despite coming across a huge sum of money, the Melvins were not ready to accept it; instead, they wished to find the real owner of the money. Upon further discovery, they found that the money belonged to a family in South Carolina, who placed the money when they drove to Florida for a cruise. When the owners were contacted, they made an unusual request; they would only accept cash if Landon would accept $1,000 for his good deed. Well, while Landon is counting in on the things he could buy with the money, his dad has learned a valuable lesson; to always check the floormats! "Check floor mats, always. I will tell you this. We went back out and checked all the rest of the floor mats. What else is hidden in these vehicles? I will check," Michael said.
In a study conducted by Ariel Cohn, Michel André Maréchal, David Tannenbaum, and Christian Lukas Zünd in 2019, for Science, researchers tested people's honesty by "losing" wallets in 355 cities across 40 countries. Each wallet contained varying amounts of money, and researchers observed whether the finders would return them. The findings revealed that wallets with larger sums of cash were returned more frequently, with U.S. return rates rising from 61% to 72% when the amount increased from $13.45 to $94.15. The study highlights that honesty aligns with societal values and can yield positive, sometimes unexpected, outcomes.