Buckle up because today we’re diving into an incredible story that’s part treasure hunt and part sheer luck.
Picture this: a couple in Queens, New York, casting a line into a lake and pulling out a safe filled with $100,000. Yes, you read that right—a safe filled with cash!
Meet James Kane and Barbie Agostini, a dynamic duo who took up magnet fishing during the COVID-19 pandemic after being inspired by YouTube videos. For those who might not be familiar, magnet fishing involves using strong magnets to search underwater for metallic treasures. Kane, who always dreamt of being a treasure hunter, decided to give it a shot.
“We just don’t have it where we can go on ships and scuba dive and find wrecks and all that. And we discovered people can throw magnets in the water, which we thought was electrical, and it turns out it’s neodymium, and anybody can do it,” Kane explained on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday.
Their latest adventure led them to a lake in Queens, where they made an extraordinary find. In a video from Friday, Kane can be heard exclaiming, “That’s definitely another safe,” followed by a gasp of excitement as he reveals, “Oh, that’s money… stacks of bills, dude!”
The safe they pulled up contained stacks of dollar bills totaling approximately $100,000. Talk about a payday! Kane started with a basic magnet from Amazon, but the couple has since upgraded to larger and stronger magnets, capable of pulling up heavy items like this safe. “You need something very strong because some of these weigh a couple of hundred pounds, these safes,” Kane advised.
Now, you might wonder what happens next. The NYPD has given Kane and Agostini the all-clear to keep the cash. However, there’s a slight hiccup—the bills are water-damaged. But don’t worry, the U.S. Treasury Department will step in to help. They’ll forensically piece together the damp bills, and as long as each bill is more than 50% intact, it counts towards the total. Once the amount is determined, the department will issue the couple a check for their treasure.
As for their plans with this unexpected windfall, Kane and Agostini are considering a few options. “We’ve tossed around a couple different ideas. One of them is we’ve always liked to get a place of our own, a little house somewhere. Maybe down south. Maybe get some different equipment for our channel,” they shared.
So, what started as a pandemic hobby turned into a life-changing discovery for this adventurous couple. With their sights set on more treasure hunts, who knows what they’ll pull up next?
