Shopper finds bag of cash in Puyallup parking lot

A Spanaway-area woman who changed her routine and decided to do some shopping after work made a surprising discovery in the parking lot of a Puyallup store. A bag full of cash.

At first, Suzanne Hutchings figured it was just some garbage but she saw the name Chase written on it, thought it might be a bank bag, and picked it up.

“When I was holding it, I noticed it felt like something was in there so I’m like ‘oh, crap, what will I do with this?'” said Hutchings.

The discovery caught Huitchings off guard but she called her husband and they decided she should call 911.

A Puyallup police officer showed up and while she was talking to Hutchings, a distraught woman showed up in the parking lot and asked to speak to the cop. The woman explained that she had lost a bank bag and was able to describe the bag and its contents.

“The officer then turned the bank bag back over to the citizen who was obviously extremely happy and relieved that a good citizen had the honesty and integrity to call the police and turn that in and we were able to reunite her with her bank bag,” said Police Captain Scott Engle.

By this time, Hutchings had already left the area but police got her in touch with the woman who lost the bank bag and they talked on the phone. The woman said the $8,000 was from the sale of her car, essentially her life savings. She told Hutchings that she needed the money to travel to visit a dying relative.

“Oh, she was super, super thankful and I told her she was very, very lucky it was me that found it and it was super coincidental that I was even there because I should have went straight home like I normally would,” said Hutchings who just happened to stop and shop a bit.

The woman offered Hutchings cash, as a reward, which Hutchings refused, telling the woman she was just happy to see her get her money back.