ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Toddler shreds more than $1,000 in cash

HOLLADAY, Utah

A toddler in Utah was a little too helpful when he shredded more than $1,000 that his parents were saving.

Ben and Jackee Belnap were saving the cash to reimburse Ben’s parents for University of Utah season football tickets. They had $1,060 in an envelope, which disappeared recently.

Ben tells KSL-TV the couple started searching the house when Jackee hollered, “I found it.” She was holding the shredder.

Their 2-year-old son, Leo, helps his mom shred junk mail or important documents that they want to get rid of. He apparently got his hands on the envelope.

Ben contacted the Treasury Department and he said he was told to ship the shredded cash for possible replacement.

Jackee says it will make “a great wedding story one day.”

From lake, Swedish girl pulls out pre-Viking-era sword

COPENHAGEN, Denmark

Her name conjures up Old Nordic tales about heroic accomplishments and that’s exactly what Saga this summer did when she stumbled on a pre-Viking-era sword in a southern Sweden lake.

Saga Vanecek, 8, was helping her father with his boat in the Vidostern lake when she stepped on a 34-inch sword in a holster made of wood and leather. The sword is believed to be about 1,500 years old.

Mikael Nordstrom of the Jonkoping County museum said Oct. 5 that the little girl’s find prompted others to seek out long-lost treasures in a lake that had been diminished by drought.

A broach from between 300 to 400 A.D. was eventually found.

Nordstrom said archaeologists are trying to understand why the items were there. For sacrificial purposes is one suggestion.

Phony Craigslist ad leads people to loot property

GREENE, Maine

Come one, come all, but actually, everything isn’t free.

The Sun Journal reports a recent bogus Craigslist ad promised free items up for grabs at a Greene, Maine property whose owner is away in Florida.

Property owner George Stanley says he reported the scam to Maine State Police and had the ad taken down.

Stanley says he’s “wiped out.” For 11 years, he’s worked on the Route 202 building which is surrounded by a jumble of free-floating items.

Neighbors told the newspaper that individuals have been showing up at all hours to grab all they could despite “no trespassing” signs.

Stanley says he’s lost bushes, new generators and at least $1,000 worth of solar lights. It’s unclear who posted the ad.

Associated Press