Homeowner turns over hidden hoard of bills

OREM, Utah, April 15 (UPI) -- A Utah man found $10,000 stashed in a metal box in a vent of his new home.

Katsumasa Hibino of Orem told the Provo Daily Herald it never occurred to him to hang on to the cash.

The money was hidden by the home's previous owner, Cleon Williams. His widow, Venna, now living in elderly housing, said she forgot about her husband's hidden stash in the shock of coping with his death.

Police examined the bills, finding nothing later than 1998, five years before Cleon Williams' death and the sale of the house, and determined that a note in the box matched his handwriting.

Hibino, an immigrant from Japan, said he had no choice in the matter since the owners of the money had worked hard to accumulate it.