Family stop car to clear bags of dropped waste from middle of road and find $1m inside

Caroline County police suspect cash is US Postal Service property

A Virginia family stumbled-upon almost $1million in cash when they picked-up two bags they thought contained waste on a weekend drive.

David and Emily Schantz were driving near their Caroline County address on Saturday when their pickup truck ran-over two bags.

Ms Schantz, having seen other cars swerve around the bags on a central Virginia highway, decided to pull-over and collect what she presumed was waste.

It wasn't until afterwards that the Schantz family discovered the two bags contained around $1m (£815,545) in cash.

“Inside of the bag, there were plastic baggies, and they were addressed with something that said ‘cash vault,'" Ms Schantz told WTVR.

She then contacted Caroline County police, who were dispatched to the address to investigate.

“They found out they’d been riding around all day with almost a million dollars in the truck,” said sheriff's major Scott Moser to WTVR.

“To have someone so honest give that million dollars back was exceptional on their part”, added Mr Moser. “Their two sons were there with them, [we] put the police lights on just for them, we are very proud of them and they really represent this county.”

Police continue to investigate how the money bags were left on the road in Goochland County, but suspect the bags belonged to the US Postal Service, and were en route to a bank.

Mr Moser said he hoped the owners of the cash would provide the Schantz family with some reward for their actions.