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Good Samaritans return envelope with $1,500

 
Published Dec. 21, 2013

TAMARAC — A South Florida woman unknowingly dropped an envelope containing $1,500 while putting stamps on letters at the Tamarac post office on Monday. But she got all the cash back, thanks to a good Samaritan couple from Jupiter.

"It's very beautiful. It's amazing. I want people to know about it," Yan G. Van Heel told the Palm Beach Post. "They're such amazing people.

Tiina Purin and her boyfriend Jon Raskin were looking for a house on Monday when they stopped by the post office. Raskin stepped on the envelope while they were in line. They picked it up, but no one around them claimed it. By the time they'd finished their business, no one had claimed the envelope, so they went to their car.

"I got a scrap piece of paper, and I wrote 'Found envelope' with my phone number on it and brought it inside," Purin said.

The couple went back to house-hunting.

Meantime, Van Heel realized the money was missing when she stopped by the bank.

"I said 'Oh my God, where's my money," Van Heel said.

She retraced her steps back to the post office, which was about to close. After hearing her story, the workers gave her the paper with Purin's phone number. She called Purin and the couple met her to give back the money on Tuesday.

"We left the house with a smile on our face," Purin said of the meeting.

Van Heel, who moved to South Florida from China 10 years ago is starting a business. She says every penny counts.

"I was very glad to see what a difference it was going to make in her life an how thankful she was to not only have the money but to see that there were people who were willing to return the money," Raskin said. "I've always heard that you should be the good that you want to see in the world."