Rare Apple 1 computer worth $200K left at California recycling center

MILPITAS , Calif., June 1 (UPI) -- A California recycling center is searching for a mystery woman who discarded a rare Apple computer worth $200,000.

Clean Bay Area, based in Milpitas, Calif., wrote in a blog post Saturday that the woman dropped off two boxes of electronic waste at the center last April.

The woman, who appeared to be in her 60s, told employees at the center she started cleaning out her garage after her husband died. She did not leave any contact information.

Employees at the center later found that one of the boxes contained a first-generation Apple computer, known as an Apple 1, built by Apple co-founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne in 1976. Only 200 were ever produced.

"We really couldn't believe our eyes. We thought it was fake," Clean Bay Area Vice President Victor Gichun told NBC.

Clean Bay Area sold the Apple 1 to a private collector for $200,000, but the company wants to give half of the proceeds to the woman who threw it away.

"Tell this lady to please come over to our warehouse in Milpitas again," Gichun said. "And we'll give her a check for $100,000."