A disabled woman out in Colorado is pleading with local news services after storing a massive sum inside of her fridge-freezer in order to ensure a good life for herself and her daughter. With her condition deteriorating, she returned the appliance later on, but was horrified to discover she forgot the money inside.
Renee Reese has multiple sclerosis - a lifelong condition affecting the spinal cord and brain that can become a serious disability. Renee's condition is quite aggressive, but so that herself and her daughter could continue to have a good life, she wanted to store away $35,000 in cash. Now, with her declining mobility, she wanted to limit her trips to the bank, so she decided to keep the money in the freezer.
Sealing the large denomination bills in Ziploc bags, she then wrapped up the money in white towels, and kept these packages in the freezer for safe keeping. "It was a safe place to put it in case there was a fire," Reese said. "Because I had no need to get in it for any reason other than to deposit it."
“I had it in the freezer because if the house burned down, the freezer stuff doesn’t burn,” she said to Contact7 Investigates, the investigative wing of local TV news station KMGH.
The issue came due to Renee's ever-declining mobility - she wanted to trade in her fridge for one with larger, French-style doors. "[If] you're pulling out a large item with a disability, the doors need to stay open," she explained, which is why she asked Costco to replace her fridge, with Costco sending a third-party service to pick up the appliance.
As the delivery truck rolled away, Renee and her daughter both looked at each other, before realising they'd forgotten something very important. "I thought my daughter had grabbed it, she thought I had grabbed it, then when I went to look for it to put it back, it wasn't there," she revealed, and is now campaigning to have the money returned to her.
"The financial strain has devastated me and because I'm so sick I don't have any way to recover it," says Renee, revealing that she hadn't slept much the night before because she was mourning a close friend. Filing a report with Thornton police, Renee also contacted Costco.
They say the money was not in the freezer when they tracked down the unit. Renee is also questioning the recruiting process of these third-party delivery companies. "Who's checking these people? What if they're rapists or pedophiles? I mean, nobody knows anything and you can't talk to them, at least through the experience I've had," she lamented.
In response to the incident, a Costco spokesperson said the company is looking into the matter once more, but has not yet completed their investigative work. They also did not respond to questions about its background check process.
