He Found a Hidden Treasure Under His Grandparents’ Carpet

Two decades after his grandparents passed away, a Reddit user with the username “EvilEnglish” inherited a farmhouse that once belonged to them. This man from Tennessee had a great relationship with his grandparents, who he lovingly referred to as PopPop and Nana. He remembers his Nana reading Treasure Island to him as a kid, which interestingly sparked a lifelong desire to find a hidden treasure of his own one day.

A photograph of an older couple / The wooden board with a concrete rectangle in it
Source: Pinterest / Imgur

When he inherited this abandoned property, he had absolutely no idea at the time that it would lead him to an amazing discovery. When EvilEnglish went to the farmhouse to clean it up to sell it, his world was completely changed. And it all started when a musty old rug. When he lifted it up, he made a discovery: he found a hidden safe. It took him days trying to crack the code to the concrete safe, but to no avail. EvilEnglish said his grandparents were enthusiastic collectors, so he knew the safe would have some interesting stuff. But he never expected this.

Leaving Behind a Secret

For the sake of not having to refer to the man as EvilEnglish all the time, I’m going to call him John. Like many grandsons, John was sad when he lost his beloved grandparents back in 2013. Inheriting their old farmhouse was definitely a nice gesture on their part, but when you see the property, you can understand that John was going to have a lot of work to do.

A photograph of an old run down house in the middle of an overgrown patch of land
Source: Twitter

The Tennessee farmhouse was very old and hadn’t been occupied for many years – since 1997. Nonetheless, it was his now, and he needed to go and clean it out. As far as John was concerned, it was the right thing to do. A major part of his eventual discovery was due to one tattered old carpet.

Neglected for Years

The discovery showed up in the most unexpected of places: under an old and tattered carpet. Think about how easy it is for the dust to collect on the furniture and stuff in our homes, and now imagine what years of dust collection can do to a place like this. That’s what John had to deal with.

A photograph of an entrance to a home / An old run-down wooden staircase
Source: Flickr / Pinterest

You can imagine the state of John’s grandparents’ farmhouse after having been abandoned for decades. It’s been over 20 years since anyone even touched it. And that neglect only adds a layer of tragedy to this story. There’s a reason why the home was left empty…

They Had to Leave Everything Behind

There is an unfortunate reason as to why John’s grandparents left their farmhouse in 1997. His grandfather had been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer, and as a result, they felt the need to pack their bags and move to another place to get easier access to medical care, as well as be closer to their family.

An old run-down wooden cabin / A photograph of an older couple
Source: Pinterest (left and right)

But his grandfather didn’t end up beating his battle with cancer, and he soon passed away. After his passing, John’s grandmother never returned to their farmhouse. And that was just the start of it. As the years went on, John’s family experienced even more tragedy.

More Tragedy in the Family

Not only did his grandfather pass away, but then his grandmother died. And more than that, his father then died, too. According to John, his father “passed in 2009.” Once he realized that hardly any of his relatives had an emotional connection to the farmhouse, he knew the property was going to be his.

A car on an open road with desert all around
Source: 123rf / Cathy Yeulet

John knew that he had to eventually do something about this place, and it was something that he kept putting off. As far as John was concerned, there was one thing he could do with the house. In shape it was in, he didn’t plan on living there.

Putting it Up for Sale

Seeing that it would likely be too expensive to keep the property and maintain it, John felt as though he was left with no choice but to sell the farmhouse. However, as he walked through the dusty and hollow wooden dwelling for the first time, he was struck by how much work needed to be done.

A middle-aged guy with a baseball cap on / A wooden fence with a sign posted outside of it stating Farm for Sale
Source: Flickr

It was going to take some work to even get it to a sell-worthy state. John had some real work cut out for himself. He couldn’t even consider selling the place in that condition. He knew that if he was going to put it up for sale, he would need to get it to a certain standard.

He Rolled Up His Sleeves and Got to Work

John knew that no one was going to buy this farmhouse if it was ridden with dust, cobwebs, and mold. The house looked like it was going to collapse at any given moment. But after a couple of days, John was already doing a good job with the place.

A man with a mask on doing some construction work
Source: Pinterest

Halfway through the cleaning process, John remembered something about his grandparents. He remembers just how much they loved finding and collecting treasures. John’s grandfather was once a sailor who told young John that he was at one point chased by pirates! Maybe he was telling him a bedtime story, but it stayed with John throughout his life.

They Loved Treasures

Considering how much his grandparents loved treasures, John was convinced that they must have hidden some things around their farmhouse. So he figured that he might as well search the house for something interesting since he was already going through everything anyways. The first stop? The closet.

An old Treasure Island book
Source: Amazon

John started to search the still unkempt house for anything that he thought his grandparents might have left behind for someone, like him, to find. John looked in the spot anyone would first search in: the closet. When he first opened the door to look inside, there wasn’t anything noteworthy. But as he took a step back and looked down, something caught his eye…

Unearthing the Carpet

John noticed that he was standing on a carpet – a carpet that hasn’t been touched in about 20 years. It was old, stinky, and musty and needed to be removed as soon as possible. As he bent down to pick it up, he was confused by how hard the surface felt.

An old staircase with a patch of carpet underneath it
Source: Pinterest

He knew that it couldn’t only be floorboards underneath the carpet. There was something much tougher in the material hiding under the surface. John was sure something was hiding underneath the carpet, and he started to remove it from the floor. What started as an ordinary day of cleaning turned into something else entirely.

What Is That Thing?

And there you have it – as he was tearing away the carpet from the floor, John noticed something strange beneath it. As he gazed at the thing for a couple of minutes, he knew that whatever it was, it was put there so that no one would find it. But it was covered in concrete and looked impossible to open.

A concrete rectangle underneath the carpet folded back
Source: Pinterest

John figured that something covered in concrete has to be hiding something. At first, he had no idea what it was, but then he began to wonder. What if this strange slab of concrete was actually safe that his grandparents kept a secret?

What Were They Hiding?

John was convinced that his grandparents had kept something hidden from the world. They were the kind of people with an affinity for “treasure” and the kind of people who WOULD do something like that. His nana collected artifacts while his pop pop loved nothing more than collecting antique “arms.”

An old rusty safe sitting on the ground
Source: Imgur

John’s curiosity was too much. He knew he had to get it open somehow. But how? Something that looked like that was going to need some real force to get it open. He might even need to get a professional locksmith to help him out. This was going to be his next new mission.

Confirming His Theory

Desperate to know if this slab of concrete was safe or not, he contacted his family to see if they had any information on the subject. Sure enough, his mother had the answers to his questions. “I spoke with my Mom, and she said that my grandparents had a safe in Florida,” John said.

An older woman on the phone with her husband drinking a cup of tea behind her in the kitchen
Source: 123rf / Iurii Golub

His mother had some more useful information, specifically on how to open the safe. According to her, the combination was her husband’s date of birth. And if that didn’t work, she recommended that John try his father’s social security number. Now all he had to do was open this safe…

Trying the Combinations

He tried out the combinations that his mother had suggested, but John was disappointed to find out that none of them worked. Nothing would budge, no matter how hard he tried. It was a matter of time before John would require some professional assistance.

A middle aged man sitting on an armchair back in the day
Source: Twitter

It was time to call a locksmith. But, seeing that he had found the safe on Sunday, there wasn’t going to be anyone available that day. He was gonna have to wait. But waiting or not, John was determined to get this safe open and see what was inside. By the next day, he made the call.

Was it an Impossible Mission?

When Monday rolled around, he called a locksmith who made his way over to the farmhouse. According to John, it took the locksmith half an hour before he said that this was an impossible task. The locksmith said he would have “referred the job to someone else.”

A man trying to remove concrete from around a hole
Source: Twitter

He didn’t realize what kind of job he was getting himself into. Despite the intense effort, it looked like it was paying off. After struggling for hours, John and the locksmith were determined to crack it open and discover what was inside. As the locksmith chipped away at the concrete, the safe started to look more like a lock.

Opening it Up

It was looking promising, and it would take another few hours of strenuous work and patience before they finally found what they were looking for. John and the locksmith managed to find the lock. It’s unclear whether or not the locksmith hung around to see what was inside.

A photograph of the circular safe inside of the ground
Source: Twitter

But either way, John managed to insert the correct code, and finally, it opened. Now was the moment of truth. Was John on the verge of finding something special? Or was he about to discover a whole lot of nothing? What a disappointment that would be, huh? Luckily, that’s not the case.

Books or Boxes?

At first glance, John saw what looked like a big pile of books. Or maybe they were boxes? It was unclear, and John wasn’t ruling out any possibility. Were they the antique weapons that John’s grandfather had been raving about? Or were they artifacts that his grandmother held so close?

The hole in the floor surrounded by old books and a few coins
Source: Twitter

As he dug into the safe, everything became clearer. As he searched what was inside, John’s expectations started to dip, and what was excitement became a disappointment. It looked like the contents were nothing more than some old books, empty boxes, and a handful of coins. But as he looked closer, his excitement returned.

There Was a Flood

The first item that John cleaned up and looked at closely was this book. The book was pretty damp after years of water damage. Just a couple of years prior, the farmhouse fell victim to a flood. Thankfully though, what was in the safe wasn’t totally damaged. John was excited to find something else.

The hole filled with old coins
Source: Twitter

John found some wet dollar bills that were damaged by the flood, but there was still reason for excitement. As he opened up the flooded book, John found a whole bunch of coins that had actually been well-preserved. It turns out that they’re extremely rare.

They Did the Right Thing

His grandparents did the right thing by locking these things up in the safe. And as it turns out, John was just scratching the surface of what there was to discover. There was so much more. There were plenty more dollar bills stacked away. And while they were pretty damp, John believed they stood a chance of being salvaged.

Coins inside of a hole / Dried up money
Source: Twitter (left and right)

All he had to do was separate them and dry them out, maybe even with some professional help. As he dug deeper into the safe, John made the biggest discovery so far. Things seemed to be getting better and better as he kept digging…

Thousands of Dollars

Towards the bottom of the safe, John found what he believed was a few hundred dollars worth of coins. But as he looked closer, he started to realize that this was way more than just a couple hundred dollars. It was starting to look more like thousands of dollars worth of coins!

A pile of antique items, including a lot of coins
Source: Pinterest

John thought maybe he was sitting on some type of goldmine. But he wouldn’t be able to figure this out all by himself. He was going to need some extra eyes and second opinions from as many people as possible. There were rare coins and other things that John wasn’t sure what they were.

Silver Bars and Coins

Another set of items that John discovered were rare silver bars. Unsure at first, John learned that they were special because they had been inscribed with dates that Connecticut and two other ‘AmJohnan’ states were founded on. This meant they held historical significance, and it was clear that they would be valuable.

Bars of silver in mint condition with Massachusetts, Delaware, and Connecticut written on them
Source: Imgur

If he was going to sell them, he was likely going to get a good price. And then he found another rare coin. While some of the more fragile objects had been damaged over time, others stood the test of time. One large coin, for example, had remained in top condition over the years.

A Strange Box

At the bottom of the safe, there was a box that, for some reason, John struggled to open. Maybe he thought it was just a toolbox that he didn’t think was noteworthy. At any rate, he finally opened up the box and found some items that were more emotional than the others.

A box with a watch and other old personal items
Source: Twitter

Upon opening up the box, he realized that most of its contents were his grandmother’s jewelry. John got a bit emotional as he looked at all these pieces of his nana’s jewelry that she must have worn so long ago. While this would have been enough, there was one more thing…

There Was Another Safe

After finding all of the valuables in the safe, John wanted to search the entire house to make sure that no stone was left unturned. After looking at every nook and cranny in the house, he noticed an interesting-looking coffee table. At first, he thought that it was nothing more than an old piece of furniture.

A man with his hand on the handle of a safe
Source: Imgur

But then he opened it up. And guess what: another safe was inside! So what did they keep in this safe that was purposely kept apart from the other one? As it turns out, this second safe was the one that his grandfather had likely assembled.

Dangerous Antiques

John’s grandfather was a fan of dangerous antiques, so it didn’t come as too much of a surprise when John found this stuff in the second safe. The other safe had valuable and rare coins, but this safe had some unique dollar bills. The bills had Joseph Barr’s signature on them.

A dollar bill with Joseph W Barr’s signature on it
Source: Pinterest

For those who don’t know, Barr was the Secretary of Treasury for only a month back in 1968. That means that not many of these notes were ever produced, which also means they’re unique, and THAT means that they should be worth something. John needed to get all this stuff appraised.

Sharing His Story

John was now at a point where he was ready to share his findings with the rest of the world. Proud of his discoveries, John took photos of everything he found and posted them on Reddit. Not only did he show off his grandparents’ valuables, but he also asked if anyone knew what they were worth.

A photograph of a young guy
Source: Reddit

John wasn’t able to get much information from the Reddit community about these valuables. But while most people weren’t able to decipher what the book and the coins were exactly, one person mentioned something important. They said that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing would be able to replace damaged bills.

What Were They Worth?

Although it took a while to find out the exact value, John suspected that it could reach the tens of thousands. “Anything from 1964 or older is 90% silver worth about 20 times face value of the coin,” he wrote online. One user on Reddit was determined to help John.

A torn up $20 bill taped back together / A photograph of random coins
Source: Pinterest

He helped him work out exactly how much the coins were worth. According to that Reddit user, who also happens to collect coins, there’s something that distinguishes coins found in safes from those that are not. Coins in safes have collector value, which is just as important as face value. “Notes are often collectible as well, check everything, even if damaged they can still have great value,” they wrote online. As John put it: “I always dreamed of finding something like this!”

If you love treasures. you’re gonna love this next one…

An Unexpected Home Renovation

When it comes to home renovations, it’s safe to say that there are always going to be unexpected hurdles and surprises. Now, there are surprises, and there’s this. Megan and Bobby, of Sierra Vista, Arizona, flew to Holiday, Florida, to do some work on Bobby’s mother’s house, which Bobby bought for her in 2009. They were going to renovate the kitchen. And they had no idea what kind of surprises they were going to face. It was 2017, and the couple felt that some changes could be made to his mother’s home.

side by side images of a man renovating his kitchen and a vintage wedding photo of a married couple
Source: Reddit (left and right)

It was the holidays, so Bobby had some extra free time. His plan was to spend the day renovating the kitchen. The couple was excited, and Megan was posting photos on her social media accounts of her handy hubby drilling into the ceiling of the kitchen. But, the thing is that this duo had no idea what was in store for them. In the middle of the night, when Bobby was still working away, something suddenly fell out of the ceiling. And so the mystery began…

A DIY Project for His Mom

Megan and her husband, Bobby Kapsidis, are both known to be driven by logic. Bobby’s hobbies include fixing things, which very much explains his interest in taking the job of an aircraft mechanic. They bought the home in 2009 and were helping out his mom. Considering how the kitchen is the most-used room in the entire home, they wanted to renovate it and spruce it up.

Megan and Bobby Kapsidis’ kitchen
Source: Twitter

Megan and Bobby took up the DIY kitchen renovation task instead of having his mother pay a fortune for someone else to do the job, which, who knows how long it would take. Contractors can overcharge and take longer than necessary. And so, Bobby started working on the project while Megan was documenting everything on her social media.

Documenting the Project

As it turns out, Megan’s chronicling of the project turned out to be quite useful, as it became a viral story. At the time, however, she nor Bobby had the slightest idea of what was to come. But something more than just wanting to show off her husband made her choose to post photos of her husband in his element, fixing up the kitchen.

Bobby Kapsidis breaking the kitchen ceiling
Source: Facebook

She kept her friends posted about their DIY project. She captioned one of her photos with, “Some before and during pictures just to show that we haven’t burnt the palace down yet.”

It was the first time in 9 years since they bought the house for his mother that any renovation was even being done. So needless to say, it was something to mark down on the calendar.

Starting With the Ceiling

When they got the house, and when his mother moved in all of her belongings, the house was in pretty good shape. But now that the kitchen was going to be done, Megan had some plans for it. The main job was the ceiling, as it was starting to peel and looked like it was suffering some water damage. That meant that the ceiling had to be taken down.

Bobby Kapsidis breaking the kitchen ceiling
Source: Facebook

At first, Megan and Bobby figured the ceiling would take a full day or two. And it looks like they were hopeful. I think naive might even be a more appropriate word. It was already the end of the first day tackling the ceiling, and Bobby was working well into the night.

Getting Sloppy

Midnight rolled around, and the handy husband was still working away. Megan had already gone to sleep by that point. Though the banging and prodding were disturbing her sleep, she was very much proud of her husband, who was determined to get the work done, even if it meant losing sleep. But lack of sleep takes a toll.

Bobby Kapsidis working in the kitchen
Source: Facebook

No sleep and tired eyes mean it’s easy to get a little sloppy. Bobby got a little carefree with his tools. He got his hands on a crowbar and started to rip away at the ceiling. He figured that he might as well tear it up, speed up the process, and worry about the mess later. And it was while was tearing the ceiling apart that something fell on him. And it wasn’t a piece of the ceiling itself.

A Strange Purse

Something had suddenly dropped down on Bobby’s face. And if anything, it woke him up from his sleepy state. Somehow, he managed not to fall either. When he looked down at the floor to see what the heck that was, he found himself staring at a brown leather purse. He got down from the latter and picked it up to examine it.

Bobby Kapsidis looking into a bag
Source: Facebook

The object looked like some sort of leather bag or purse. It would seem like an ordinary object; when he turned it around, he saw something strange. The purse had an alligator design carved onto it. He didn’t know what to make of it, so he decided to wake up Megan and see what she thought about it.

Curious and Somewhat Fearful

He rushed over to his sleeping wife to show her this peculiar purse that literally dropped down from above. Naturally, the two of them were curious and even felt that there was something creepy about it. They wondered and were even worried if finding the purse was some sort of bad omen or something that could lead to something worse.

alligator purse; front and back images
Source: Pinterest

As eerie as something may seem, the curiosity is what trumps everything else. They had to open the purse and see what was inside. They had to know what secret was purposely being hidden in the kitchen ceiling of his mother’s home that she was currently living in. Keep in mind that Bobby had no knowledge of the house’s previous owners. So the jury was out and who planted the purse there and why.

It Hit Him Right in the Face

“He had to cut through the material, it being an older house,” Megan later explained. “He pulled the soffit down, and all this insolation came falling down on top of him, and a really beautiful alligator purse from Cuba hit him right in the face.” And what they discovered next confused them greatly. They figured that the purse would have something inside.

Bobby Kapsidis working in the kitchen
Source: Facebook

But, to their shock, the bag had nothing in it; it was empty. The incident begged many questions: Why was a purse sitting in the kitchen ceiling? Who put it there, and why? If it was planted there, then why was it empty? It made no sense to Megan and Bobby. They figured something wasn’t right in this scenario.

A Portal to Another Era

Since the purse didn’t contain anything, they thought that the purse itself must be very valuable. Otherwise, why would it be stored in such secrecy? As mysterious as this bag was to them, Megan and Bobby placed the purse on the side and started drilling to see if the attic (which was above the kitchen) was hiding any other interesting stuff.

hole in the kitchen ceiling
Source: Facebook

Their instincts served them well. They were right to check under the attic because they were about to find more where the purse came from. Digging into the ceiling was like going through a portal to the past – a time machine if you will. It was like a portal because what they found took them to a whole other era.

There Was More!

It was unbelievable. As Megan recalled, “My husband decided he wanted to tear it down at 8:00 in the evening, and when he did, that’s when everything started falling out of the ceiling.” So, what did they find next? After Bobby got to drilling, he began to dig the ceiling of the kitchen, and several other things began to fall out!

Family photos in a mess on the kitchen floor
Source: Facebook

Everything that was starting to fall out of the ceiling, not to mention Bobby and Megan themselves, were covered in dust. The dust made it impossible for the couple to identify the objects at first, but the anticipation was killing them. Megan was excited, to say the least. And of course, she had to post it all online.

“Stuff Just Keeps Falling From Our Ceiling!”

Megan wrote in her post: “Stuff just keeps falling from our ceiling!” As she was on the floor, standing and taking photos of the interesting night they were having, Bobby was telling her everything he saw. But suddenly, he got silent and was stunned by something that caught his eye. Megan didn’t understand what happened and why he was at an instant, completely quiet.

wedding invitation
Source: Facebook

While tearing away at the rest of the ceiling, Bobby found a note which had evidently been buried inside the kitchen ceiling. Something like that can’t be an accident, by any means. So Bobby knew at that point that something was being hidden, and there was a real story to be told. Some chose to hide all this stuff. But why?

A Wedding Album

Someone had clearly hidden the note inside the ceiling on purpose. And just like all the other stuff they found, the folded up letter was also stained with cement, mud, and dust. The surprises were not over, as one more unexpected thing fell down on to Bobby’s head. “Now it’s someone’s wedding album,” Megan said in her post.

vintage wedding album
Source: Facebook

The two looked at each other in disbelief. They started to realize that they found the key into someone’s past, something that someone chose to keep hidden. What was it about this photo album that needed to be kept hidden away? Bobby climbed down the ladder, and the two of them sat on the floor to have a look at this mysterious album.

Looking Through the Thick Album

They opened the album right there on the floor with dust and debris all around them. It was a thick album with a whole bunch of photos in it. Bobby reminisced in an interview later: “I reached in the installation, and I pulled out this wedding book. It’s old, and kind of dusty and I said, ‘This is pretty incredible.’”

vintage wedding album
Source: Facebook

“Just seeing something nostalgic like that. I have no idea why they’d keep it up in the attic.” It was obvious that the album was full of wedding photos as its cover said it all. As they expected, the album was very old, and its pages had turned yellow long ago. The album had 50 pages and contained nothing but wedding photos.

White Wedding

And it was a traditional white wedding. In this type of wedding, the bride wears a white gown and veil but the groom is in his black tux. By the look of the photos and the style of the people in them, it was clear that this wedding took place in the 1960s. The pictures were vintage, and the bride and groom’s dress and style were something of the past.

vintage wedding album photo
Source: Facebook

But there were questions left to be answered. Why did this couple hide their wedding album? Why and from whom? It was obvious that the album was meant to be concealed from someone. “My first reaction was, ‘Wow, what a beautiful wedding,’” said Megan. “I sat looking through it and thought, we need to find these people.”

They Needed More Light

The two of them looked back at the ceiling and knew that they were going to keep looking to see if anything else was hidden there. But they needed more light. And considering how they were already into the wee hours of the night, they needed to get some sleep first. In the morning, they could continue when they had the help of daylight.

Megan holding up the wedding album
Source: Facebook

Megan explained how, “He found the big wedding album first, which would have been the bride and groom’s copy of the wedding album. The next day, when we had more light, he went back up in there, and he found what would have been the parents’ little small version of the same album.”

What Were They Missing?

When Bobby bought the home for his mom in 2009, he had no information on the people who owned the home previously. He was pretty sure that this album belonged to them, whoever they were. But, it was beyond the couple as to why someone would hide pictures of their most memorable day. There must be a link or information that Bobby and Megan were missing.

vintage wedding photos and a smaller image of Bobby and Megan Kapsidis
Source: Facebook

The person who hid it could have burnt it or threw it away, but instead of doing that, he/she decided to bury it safely inside the ceiling. And finally, they found a piece of information that led them to some surprising revelation.

The Married Couple

Remember that note that Bobby found that made him suddenly quiet? It was a piece of folded paper that was tucked inside the wedding album. It was less of a note than it was a copy of a wedding invitation. The invitation ended up revealing a lot about the newlyweds. As wedding invitations tend to include names, Bobby and Megan were able to see who the married couple was.

Joseph and Marguerite Garguilo in their wedding photo
Source: Facebook

The groom was named Joseph Garguilo, and the bride was Marguerite. The date written on the invitation was September 14. The invitation also revealed that the wedding took place in New York (and not in Florida where this house and the album was found). So, it was clear that they relocated to Florida after the wedding.

Like Watching a Movie

After looking closely at the evidence laid before them, they were able to gather some more information. They even managed to discover that the wedding was celebrated at St. Thomas Apostle Roman Catholic Church. That church is located on 87th Street and 88th Avenue in Woodhaven, Queens, New York. The invitation also indicated where the reception was.

couple getting married at the altar
Source: Facebook

After the ceremony, the guests headed to the Senior Petty Officers Mess at New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn for the reception. There were photos in the album that also showed guests at the reception. Looking through the album made Megan and Bobby feel as though they were watching a movie. They might as well have zapped some popcorn and poured a glass of wine.

It Became an Obsession

Even though they had never met the mysterious couple, Megan felt like she knew them. These photos were like a window into the lives of a couple, a couple who married and later hid the evidence. Megan obviously wanted to know more about them. I mean, wouldn’t you? Her desire to know them was about to turn into an obsession.

Megan Kapsidis and the wedding photos
Source: Facebook

Megan said, “I want to find the family. It’s easier today. We have the digital age where we can just call the photographer and have him send it over the internet. Back then, they didn’t have that, so this is all they have left of their memories.” And just like that, the search began. Megan was going to get to the bottom of this.

Taking it to Facebook

But the story of this couple was getting all the more confusing. If they were married, then why would they hide the album? And what happened to the couple? Are they still alive? If so, do they want the album? Megan had to know what went wrong. She started her efforts by logging into Facebook.

Megan Kapsidis’ Facebook page
Source: Facebook

She updated her Facebook status and shared her and her husband’s recent discovery with the world. One of the good things about social media is that it offers a mass audience. And there is power in numbers. The more people are aware, the more information Megan can potentially get. Megan was hoping that someone would catch the post and have some useful information.

She Had a Reason

Why was Megan really doing all this? Her reason was this: “My husband has digital copies of our wedding album. If one computer crashes, it’s on another one. If we leave them somewhere, we can just get them somewhere else. They didn’t have that in 1963, so the photos that you have in the book are the only photos that they have of that day, of their memories that day, and to me, that’s really important to have.”

vintage wedding photo next to a selfie of Bobby Kapsidis
Source: Facebook (left and right) 

“If I had lost my wedding album, I would hope that somebody would find it and return it to me. So, there’s no other option for me.” When Megan posted the story on Facebook, she didn’t anticipate that the post would reach so far.

The Post Went Viral

Megan’s post went viral as people were seeing it and naturally became intrigued. But like all viral posts, hers received both positive and negative responses, as well as twists and turns. It didn’t take long for the post to go viral, reaching many people. Some of them were even able to give Megan tiny pieces of information.

vintage wedding photo of the bride putting on jewelry
Source: Facebook

As it turned out, Megan and Bobby weren’t the only ones curious about the couple and their wedding album. Other people started to get involved, wanting to more about the story and get updates on any progress being made. The couple even got some screen time as they had appeared on both Fox and ABC News segments. But, Megan was far from finding the notorious couple.

Becoming a Debate

Megan and Bobby received praise for their determination. People all over the world were talking about it online. It even became something of a debate. People debated everything from the bride’s gown to the exact year it took place. Megan wasn’t so comfortable with all this. She just wanted to get the album back to its rightful owners.

Megan Kapsidis and a Facebook post
Source: Facebook

Megan was obsessed with the album, even enchanted by it. She said, “I’ve looked through the pictures hundreds of times, and they’re just so pretty. I feel like I want to know the rest of the story. I would love to return it to the family. I’d like to sit down and give them back their memories.” But was she going to find them online?

Banking on a Lead

Megan posted updates on Facebook, including one about a lead that she got. And she displayed her hopefulness in the post, too. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to find her, if not, her family,” she wrote. “I have a lead that she’s two towns north of where we are now. I’d like to return it and maybe hear a little bit about her wedding day if she’s willing to talk about it.”

Megan Kapsidis holding up the wedding album
Source: Facebook

According to a few sources, Marguerite was indeed alive and was living in Florida. After getting such an exciting lead, you can imagine how happy Megan was. Megan eagerly made a visit to Marguerite’s home, but she returned downtrodden as the woman apparently moved away. And unfortunately, no one knew where to.

It Was Going to Be Difficult

Despite living in a digital age where almost anything and everything is documented and available online, Megan still knew that it was going to be really hard to find the album’s true owners. After getting a failed lead, she was looking for more answers but wasn’t able to get any more leads at that point. Megan was too stubborn to let go of it, though.

Megan Kapsidis with the vintage wedding photo
Source: Facebook

She was still hopeful that someday someone would come forward and offer her some insights. She believed that she would find something to solve this mystery for good. When there is a will, there is a way, right? Well, Megan found the way. She soon learned something about the couple that unfolded the story further.

Remaining Hopeful

One evening, things took an interesting turn when Megan was surfing the internet. Someone finally provided her with a crucial piece of information about Marguerite’s current whereabouts. The information she got revealed the city where Marguerite was living in. Megan didn’t want to be jaded, so she stayed positive that this lead was the real deal.

Megan and Bobby Kapsidis with their dog
Source: Facebook

As you can expect, the news made Megan happy and excited. She had what she was looking for. She was sure that the woman was alive, and she was going to find where she lives and hopefully gets the album back to her. The journey was going to require going some distance, but it wasn’t going to stop her at this point. She headed in the direction of Marguerite’s reported location.

She Found Marguerite

Obviously, Megan posted moments through her journey, sharing with her friends online what happened when she finally got there. It was on June 8th, 2017, when Megan explained to her Facebook followers that she finally met the infamous Marguerite. Not only did she meet her, but she finally got to hand over the album and the purse.

New segment showing the vintage wedding photo found in a roof
Source: ABC Action News

Megan didn’t mention anything about Joseph, the groom. She posted: “I would like to ask for privacy for Marguerite and her family now. She wants to keep her memories personal and enjoy them with her family.” One can only assume that Joseph has passed away. But this major update left the people wanting more. Everyone wanted to know about the old couple and what happened.

Getting Some Answers

She may have given her back her belongings, but the question still remained unanswered: Why did they hide the purse and the wedding album inside the ceiling of their kitchen? And yes, there is a story. We were finally able to get some answers. The newlyweds who looked so happy in their wedding photos actually faced a tragedy.

Joseph and Marguerite Garguilo in their wedding photo
Source: Facebook

Their marriage came to a sudden end when Joseph Garguilo died 9 years after the wedding (the reason for his death is unknown). But this wasn’t the end of Marguerite’s story. Megan learned another interesting detail about her life. She found out from Marguerite herself that after years of mourning the loss of her husband, she finally moved on and got remarried to another man.

Mixed Feelings

Well, it is understandable that Marguerite eventually moved on and remarried, Megan couldn’t help but have mixed feelings about it. She put two and two together and figured that this was the reason why she hid the album in the ceiling. Perhaps she didn’t want anyone, let alone her new husband, to know about the wedding album from her previous marriage.

Bobby and Megan Kapsidis
Source: ABC News

Or perhaps she was too traumatized by her husband’s death that she wanted to get the album out of sight and thus out of mind. Maybe she just couldn’t bear the sight of it for the memories it gave her were too much to bear. And since she didn’t dare to throw it away, she kept it hidden.

A New Life

Marguerite lost Joseph, but she didn’t want to lose his memories, too. So she did what she believed she had to do. Megan remembered the moment she met her and gave her the album. At that time, Marguerite was confused as she didn’t know if she should keep it or not. The old woman had a different life now with children and grandchildren.

Bobby and Megan Kapsidis
Source: Facebook

While Megan felt guilty for bringing back such negative memories to the old woman, Marguerite saw it in a different light. She was amazed at Megan’s determination to make sure she got the album to her. Bobby and Megan met her and her family, and the story was finally put to rest.

These Three Roommates Bought a Couch and Screamed When They Opened it Up


It Started With an Ugly Couch

These three roommates are also best friends. They bought a couch for their apartment and discovered something completely unexpected. So much so that they screamed when they found what was inside the ugly couch. Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti, and Lara Russo were the three roommates who became famous for their discovery and gesture of selflessness, generosity, and kindness.

Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti, and Lara Russo sitting on a couch
Source: Facebook

The three New York college students moved in together and, like many college roommates that find themselves in a new apartment, were missing a couch. The roomies were looking for a couch to complete their living room. So they went to a thrift store and looked for a couch that would fit in their living room. They eventually found one and bought it for only 20$.

Getting the Couch Home

Little did they know that they were in for a massive surprise. The roommates were excited that they finally bought a couch, and for only 20 bucks! The friends wanted to take it home right away to their apartment in New Paltz. But something drew their attention to a certain part of the couch, and they had to change it.

ugly couch taken apart
Source: Reddit

And so one night, after watching a movie on their new, but not-so-new couch, the three roomies said that some parts of the couch didn’t feel as comfy as the rest of it due to some crinkles in the pillows. So they did something that not anyone would have done. They started ripping the built-in side pillows off the couch.

Taking it Apart

A regular night on the couch, watching a movie, suddenly turned into an unforgettable night. Usually, taking apart an old couch is uneventful. You rip a piece here, rip piece there. And in the end, you either have a better-looking piece of furniture, or you find yourself going to the store and looking for something to replace it because you went too far.

ugly couch taken apart with marks of where money was found
Source: Pinterest

But this case of ‘couch-ripping’ was eventful, to say the least. After the roommates tore up the parts of the couch, they found a goldmine! There were almost an inch and a half of 100 dollar bills that were stacked into the pillows. Whoever placed the money there chose to put the bills in envelopes covered them in bubble wrap.

Counting the Money

So imagine this: you take apart a couch and find stacks of bills! What would you do next? The roommates did what you probably would do as well…That’s right, they counted the money. It’s only natural to want to know how much money they had in their hands. Literally! That night, the shocked friends started counting the money.

roommates counting money on the floor
Source: Pinterest

They were curious also to know how much more was stored in the couch. “When we were in the bedroom, our neighbors thought we won the lottery or something cause we were just screaming,” Guasti claimed. “We were just really freaked out by it,” Werkhoven said. How much money do you think they found? It was much more than they ever expected.

An Insane Amount

They were counting the money and screaming, a surely amusing scene. After about 20 minutes of counting the bills from the envelopes, the roommates realized in awe that they had been sitting on a $41,000 goldmine! And to think they only spent $20 for the thing! At first, college students started to daydream.

roommates hanging around on their couch
Source: YouTube

What would they do with the money? Oh, the places they could go. The things they could buy! They even got responsible and took into consideration student loans and traveling around the world as well as helping out their parents. They spoke about what they intended to do with the money. “I would have bought my mom a new car. What she drives is a piece of junk, and I really wanted to surprise her with a brand-new car.” Werkhoven said.

Daydreaming

But all of the daydreamings had to eventually come to an end because they came across another discovery hidden among the envelopes. One of the envelopes had something written on it. Something that would change their minds about what to do with the money. What did the envelope say? The one envelope that had something written on it was a turn of events.

Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti, and Lara Russo sitting on a couch
Source: YouTube

On the envelope was written the name of a woman. Now they knew that this money likely belonged to the woman whose name is written on it. They had to make a decision. Now, the roommates were faced with a dilemma. Should they keep the money for themselves, or should they try to trace down the owner?

Their Decision

“We had a lot of moral discussions about money. We all agreed that we had to bring the money back to whoever it belonged to… it’s their money — we didn’t earn it.” Russo said. The three didn’t feel comfortable spending someone else’s life savings on personal things. “The entitlement very quickly went away with finding that notice with her name on it. Because we didn’t earn that money,” Guasti said.

Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti, and Lara Russo sitting on a couch
Source: YouTube

The roommates, along with their parents, started to look for the real owner. Did they find the mysterious owner? They had their fingers crossed. The next day, the three friends found the number of the woman whose name was written on the envelope. And they did next is truly heartwarming…

Meeting the Woman

Werkhoven quickly called the woman and gave her the news. She said: “I’m like, ‘I found something that I think is yours,’ and she’s like, ‘What?!’” And I’m like, ‘I found a couch,’ and then she’s like, ‘oh my God, I left a lot of money in that couch.’” Werkhoven claimed. They ended the phone conversation after deciding to set up a meeting.

Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti, and Lara Russo sitting on a couch
Source: YouTube

The three roommates wanted to return the money to the woman who never even thought she would see that money again, especially not the entire sum! When the three students returned the money to the woman, they found out that they were literally sitting on top of the life savings of an elderly woman. They felt good knowing, giving back the money. And the woman’s words were emotional…

Her Words

“When we handed the money back to the woman, she told us that she felt like her husband was present in the room with us,” Guasti claimed. The woman didn’t know where else she should put her life savings, so the best place she could think of was the couch. She used to sleep on that couch for 30 years, so she knew it was a safe spot to hide something so valuable.

Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti, and Lara Russo sitting on a couch
Source: YouTube

Unfortunately, the old woman needed to get back surgery done. And that meant that she had to spend a few months in a rehabilitation center. And her daughter did something that she believed would help her mother. But in reality, it cost her thousands of dollars.

Lucky

When the woman came back from the rehabilitation center, her daughter had bought her a new bed so that she won’t have problems sleeping on an old couch. She had no idea that her mother was storing wads of cash inside! The three roommates undoubtedly felt lucky to find so much money.

Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti, and Lara Russo sitting on a couch
Source: YouTube

But the elderly woman surely felt even luckier when she got that fateful phone call from some college student. If you found $41,000, would you decide to return the money to the owner? In the end, the selfless students did the right thing. They knew what they had to do, and the woman is certainly thankful for it.

How’s that for a good Samaritan/success story? It sure warmed my heart, that’s for sure.