I'd say that is a huge waste. If he has children of his own, they might benefit from it but doesnt seem like it. He still has family/relatives but they cant be that close if he was in the situation he was in prior to death. All that money wont follow you to your grave. They said he had mental problems so who knows what goes in his head. The only explanation that I can think of (assuming he is sane enough) is that he is perfectly happy living the way he did. Holding onto that money (at all time wrapped in rubber bands in a bag) makes him happier than spending it.
Yeah, and alot of them end up with a court imposed vulture that is just waiting for them to kick the bucket, and collext theur money and sell their belongings.
I think that problem is a lot deeper than the news report on it. We need woke district attorneys held liable for criminals being caught but then released..
reminds me of the story of a man that decided he had enough of society. he built his own house and lived alone for years, people discovered him and began to put him on the news, he was later assaulted by a group thinking he had made some cash off the advertisement. sad.
@@KamDashcamcalm down he never said mr babit was the criminal, he said the criminals who may target people like Mr Babit would not see it as a viable money making strategy if they weren’t released so easily
These are good honest people who genuinely cared for this man unfortunately most people today would have took the money there still good people out there
Every town has eccentric people. Years ago there was an older lady who went through the trash and dumpsters all over our town. She dressed kind of shabby but wore a lot of jewelry. I was concerned for her safety because of her jewelry. As far as I know, nobody ever bothered her. She was always friendly and said hello. I was surprised to learn after her death, she was actually a millionaire. She left all her money to a local private school. I don't know why she lived that way but maybe it brought her happiness.
I saw things like this a lot while volunteering in soup kitchens all over the country. Once a homeless guy opened his bag and showed me wads of cash. He said it was 5000 dollars. He slept under an overpass.
What last request? All he said was put it in a safe. He didn't know he was gonna die he thought he was gonna get it back after he got out of the hospital. So as far as I'm concerned whatever she choose to do with it AFTER he died is her business
@MyStupidRU-vidHandle if he wanted them to have it they'd have been the ones entrusting with the backpack to begin with. The way I see it if he was around me more than his family AND entrusted it to me, never told me to give it to anyone specific then I'd say if something happened to him he mustve wanted me to have it.
I grew up in Haverhill and saw this guy all the time. He used to ride through my neighborhood and pick the crab apples from our back yard… seriously, not even sure why I’d lie about that… Anyways, he was quiet and kept to himself. RIP Dennis. I really hope they are able to preserve his bike.
Because the Legion group provided him with a home I think they deserve then money....They could set up the little unit he lived in with accom for any other homeless man who needs a place to stay and name the place in honor of this guy.
It was probably the only way he could save money without getting fined by the VA Social security or the food stamp office seeing how anything over $2000 gets you a deduction in all 3 😅
Thats not it. More than likey that cash comes from his disability payments. Which is not taxed. Hes just been saving it. As a vet my self and working at the VA. Alot of homeless vets carry thier cash with them. They just dont trust banks.
Imagine dying and then having your financial information discussed on the news. Horrible. We didn’t need to know the exact amount. I hope this doesn’t put other people who are in similar situations in jeopardy. RIP.❤
@@13thJurorVote What is "mental illness"? Is it a disease he caught? Or his choice to make a bad/good decision? "Greed" oh no! you can't say he was a sinner. That is not allowed today.
If he lived for 10 more years, that's $7,000 to live on a year. Is he not poor enough? Also, he wasn't there for free. He was allowed to perform a service given his proven character. You can't just let any homeless meth head into a position of trust.
There is a gentleman in my town who has a tiny tiny area on the outskirts that he farms and the city just lets him do it he is not ever causing trouble he just lives out there and comes into town collecting cans and scrap. He has plenty of cash in the bank to be able to live more traditionally but chooses not to. Some people just want a simpler existence
He probably doesn't want the city and government stealing his money. If he claims ownership on anything that gives them reason to extort him for his money or just take it all. Its called "taxation" and it's highly imoral, Illegal and theft!
I lived in Haverhill and saw this man riding his bicycle around town all the time. Actually spoke to him a couple of times, he was always very polite and friendly. You just never know!
Working as a young man, saving whatever I can for retirement not knowing if I’ll ever get to spend it. My heart goes out to this man. You will not be forgotten. Gods speed friends
They had a case like that in my small town of 4000. We had this old man in a Toyota Corolla. He drove up and down the Main Street all day. I thought it was weird. I saw him in the local mini mart saying hi to people, so I guess he was well known. We had a deep freeze coke thru town for 3 days and he froze to death. Cops said he had $150k in cash In his car.
In my neighborhood we always take care of the elders when they need roofing or other repairs on their old homes. One lady in her mid 90's asked a neighbor to disconnect the power to her water heater because the electric bill was soaring to over $30!. A few years later she died and left $1.4MM to the humane society.
I’ve known and worked for some older men who look poor or live frugal , but don’t judge a book by the cover! Living frugal is exactly how you save money, pretty much the only way to save these days.
There was a guy in Niagara falls ny about 15years ago he passed away and they found close to 1million in his home. Collected cans. Very heart warming. Don't ever judge a book by the cover. He may have lived a frugal life but he had more money stashed away then most people. This man seems the same he lived a frugal life but was happy!
Perhaps part of the challenge such people set before themselves is the act of denying the desire to use the money. It would be an extremely rare and interesting idealistic path to explore.
@AegisAuras more likely a product of the great depression, either directly (unlikely) or indirectly through family. I would assume his parents or great grand parents taught him about frugal living in the depression and he perhaps enjoyed it more than the idea of a job. Being free and collecting cans. Same thing everyday. Something to wake up to. Something to make your community just that much better. And to be effectively worryless. Unless suddenly the cans disappeared lol
People that have been through trauma (the depression and WW2 are excellent examples) never forget the lessons learned. Or they become cemented in the survival skillset that experience imprinted on them. Prince Rupert, BC had an Italian immigrant that worked all his life at the Port once arriving in Canada. He left his house and cash to the city. No one knows his story. He could have lost his entire family in the war for all we know.
That lady gets some major credits and a THANK YOU for her honesty. A homeless guy asks her to put his backpack in her safe. She does that and then he dies and probably she is the only person on the planet who knows that his backpack is in there and what is in it.
@@oldironsides4107 Hmmmm. Maybe $170K was in it? Yeah I suppose that's a possibility. There is a good saying to apply to speculations such as that: "Without proof to the contrary always give the other person the benefit of the doubt."
@@cj-bd3qlTo distract from the illegals, Muslims, crime, war, inflation, BLMs, etc. Don't want you talking about how the Resident Potato Regime is ruining the world.
Ecclesiastic 5:12 " Sweet is the sleep of the one serving, whether he eats little or much, but the plenty belonging to the rich one does not permit him to sleep." money is not everything, he could not buy his life back no matter how much he had in the backpack.
My mum is like this. Been on a pension most of her life. She has a lot in savings and yet she lives like a miser. She will absolutely agonize over spending a couple of dollars on anything. I had three outfits in my teenage years. I was lucky if I could get anything out of her. I think she's getting worse as she gets older. I told her to try and loosen up about spending but old habits forged long ago are very difficult to change.
I have been together with a famous actor 20 years ago. I knew he earned really good money, he never got me the tinyest gift, sadly. Generousity is extremely important .
My step-mom was the same way. She would give gifts back to you when “cleaning up the house”. She dressed in rags so that nice people would pay her bills at the grocery or the Witness kids would do her yard work for free. She’d make them a salad with lemonade after they’d do $600 worth of work and gleefully think she was a wonderful person.
I feel he didn't have the mind to understand what to do with his money but hold onto it. He tried to keep busy and work quietly. He helped make his community better in his own way. May the Lord continue to look after those who are mentally ill. God bless this woman and all who showed him love in the time that he lived. I also hope some of the money goes to help others through their organization to further their honest and kind acts.
I grew up in Haverhill. I remember seeing him ride his bike all the time back in the 90s and 2000s. I would yell his name and he would always pump his fist in the air as he rode by. He's definitely a legend around here, and I never even heard him speak. I just knew him from the stories about him.
Its strange to think that if he didnt have but $10 in that backpack his death would have gone largely unnoticed. You die with 70,000 in a backpack and they put you in the news and celebrate you a hero. He does seem like a good man, its just really strange t think about.
In my opinion, this woman deserves the 70k because he instructed her to hide the bag. He didn't tell her to give it to his family or even mention calling them when he was on his deathbed. Why did she suddenly start searching for his family after he passed away? The bag is rightfully hers.
@@user-ff5nv8ft6n The touchy jerks are even scarier. I simply expressed that, in my opinion, the woman who took care of him is more entitled to his estate. It's a straightforward viewpoint. you are not going to teach me basic things while you can't even understand what a perspective means.
Again, this highlights the problem that being homeless, rather than actually being the problem, is just a symptom of the problem. He obviously could have rented a place to live.
People making fun on this, it's a very well known phenomenon and it's related to mental illness. There's one person like that in every major town, even more. We had one here too. Died and had loads of cash on him. We're talking about people with major insecurities, who can't trust easily or at all. They can't seem to fit anywhere, they feel appart from society, isolated and reclusive. It all stems from major insecurity, it's quite profond. I have a lighter version of this but, it could be me. I'm so afraid everything is going to collapse that can hardly spend a penny. Positive point is that i'm frugal and very responsible, no debt, even if i'm low income. Negative point is, i'm scared of spending money quite a bit, and that i tend to hoard it. Then, i get older and i wonder what's the point. If i'm gonna die, that money will have been useless. It's not that ive got lots, just a bit of savings. Still, i can't convince myself to do anything with it, and i can't trust banks either. It's like this guy, all hidden somewhere. Only my parents know where it is. So, i understand this guy. I really do. He was no criminal or wanting to abuse people's kindness. He was scared, and ill.
Same story here an old man in his 70 s Dog lover with his grocery basket carrying his dogs Babies and his Dog walking along him Would go out everyday day to buy them breakfast lunch and dinner Sig there with them homeless looking man Never had a shower in years Msn Died of natural causes Had coffee cans full of money stashed under his dogs bed in the ground outside only found when cleaning up the Garbage he left behind Yup never judge its book by its cover
I hope the $69,000 some odd dollars goes to give him a really fine grave with a beautiful headstone in a first-class Cemetery. It should be spent on him and not his family members or in taxes he should get Eternal respect with a fine grave
RIP. Actually at 82 years old, 69k+ and a backpack is not much money when all you have to your name is a bicycle. Thankfully he was rich in friends, which is priceless! ♥️
I've met many older people who lived like paupers but had a lot of money. And no amount of talking would get them to part with it, even if there was no one to leave it to. Heirs were often some niece in Chicago whom they never saw. People feel that spending money on themselves is a waste. They don't want or need better "stuff." They are comfortable in old clothes, etc. and think that spending the money is just throwing money away. I do understand that. People try to get me to get certain services or items, and I say, "I don't need one." Like a cell phone. I have a landline, and am fine with it - never drop a call, and it's crystal clear. Don't have to answer a phone call in the middle of the store or talk to unseen people on one over the meat counter. I tell people, if it's an emergency, call 911, don't call me. My car is a 2000 Taurus. I don't have GPS. I don't have a microwave, a dryer, and my refrigerator for 10 years has been a tabletop dorm style with no light inside. I will buy necessary things. I wonder who got his money.
Something about this just makes me want to burst out in tears. They should keep that backpack as a museum piece. Maybe in a museum dedicated to good, humble people
In life you don't know what anyone is going through. Sometimes you don't know what aura someone brings until their gone. He was a drifter spreading light every where he went .Please take care of each . Rest in peace Abbit
He used to come into Market Basket back in the 70's when I worked therein high school, was living outside then. Been seeing him around since. Sad to hear he's gone.
🤔 funny how this story is not geared towards mental health and homelessness, but rather the surprise of how much money he carried in a backpack 🎒 --- humanity has to do better ‼️
It sounds like he didn't trust banks. I just wish he spent the wad on himself. When I went to school in a fairly large city in the midwest, my cousin worked at a bank. I saw a panhandler who was maybe in his early 20s downtown. He always wore a dark trench coat. She told me that he was one of their customers and he had over $40,000 in the bank. Some people would just rather live off the kindness of others because that's all they can do.
There was a time when most "middle class" American families had $30K-$50K saved up once the parents were in their 40s. Now anything above $25K is seen as "a lot of money". Sad.
@@thatguy6214 What age did you move out of your parents' home? I know a couple people who have $100K+ at age 25 but they invest all their money in day trading & still live with their mom.
When i was little there was a homeless man named Marvin Poe who would always push a shopping cart around town..He wasn't all there mentally but he was a super nice guy deep down..He would come up and chat with you and just wanted someone to talk to..He always had a huge bulge in his pants..Turns out his pants were stuffed with money..He was a millionaire who chose to live on the street..He would have all his SS checks deposited into his sisters account and she would give him money to live on and he would just stuff it in his pants..I guess he just liked the simple life..RIP Marvin🙏
I met a homeless guy one time in the woods near my school when out smoking weed with friends, he had a tent setup out there and was cooking himself some food at a fire he made. We befriended the guy, shared our weed with him and he started telling us his story He was an extremely wealthy person who just got sick of living like a normal person, he was showing us recent bank receipts with hundreds of thousands of dollars in it A few days later we got together a small care package for the guy, sleeping blanket, some clothes, food, can opener, survival stuff and went off into the woods looking for him but he wasn't there Never saw him again I hope he's doing well
omfg. "can man" always had plans and dreams he would share with us at the KFC when I worked there; we would trade him picking up stuff parking lot for chicken. once he talked about how he was going to sell rats he caught behind buildings to labs; because they payed good money. his plans always involved going somewhere... "i'm going to boston to..." "I'm going to NY to....". I always made him sandwich for the road. Poor guy.
Gotta buy the pot,cigarettes, vapes,Starsucks coffee, expensive cellphones, energy drinks, McDonald's, cable TV, 200 dollar sneakers and a long list of unnecessary items.
About 30 years ago, there was an old lady living in her car at a shopping center. Alot of people would often stop to give her food and money. If this guy came across as poor, people would of given him money to live.
My father had about the same amount rolled up in a saftey deposit box in the bank that my sis and I didnt know about and we split, rolled up bills with rubber bands around them
He likely wouldn't have owed any taxes on whatever income he was making annually. The standard deduction for a single person is $14,600. That doesn't include tax credits and other deductions. You can make $85,000 a year, single, no kids and still be in a 12% tax bracket.
My grandmother used to save soap shavings. Later on when we grew up we understood she went through the depression and sometimes they couldn't get soap. They learned to take the soap remnants and shavings grind them up and make soap water to wash their hands. Bunch of things we learned from her and others.
This doesn't surprise me. It's the people driving around in new, shiny cars that I always assume are broke because most of them are in debt up to their eyeballs. I've known a few people that were worth millions and they dressed average and drove average vehicles. One of the guys even wore clothes from thrift stores and cut his own hair, badly I might add.
Some of those people in new shiny cars are rich though. Most though in reality likely have car payments, and that likely isn't all. I know a guy whose net income was closer to $500k/year. He spends to this day $5,000 a month on fruits and vegetables alone. Owns a 3000 sq ft house in one of the richest neighborhoods and drives a 2020s model luxury sedan. He's got a net worth of over $30 million today from investing $170k/year for 50 years. Despite his absurd luxurious lifestyle of spending so much money. For several years when he was younger he was earning $250k/month making sales prior to becoming a doctor.
I am not sure that I am sympathetic to this story. Sure, a loss...but think about it...the story doesn't mention anything he did for anyone. In fact, the story is told the opposite way. The American Legion put him up in exchange to be a night watchman. Lets be honest, what kind of town is this where the American Legion needs a night watchman. The State will spend tax payer money to try and find the next of kin now. I say give it to the American Legion Post.
I agree with most of your comment. However about the need for a watchman for an American Legion Hall one on the West Coast was broken into multiple times recently and photographs were destroyed, the interior was vandalized and exhibition rifles (WW2 era carbines which can be activated) were stolen. So there’s that.
@@345mrse I am not saying there is not places like that have been vandalized or burglarized. I would bet this is more likely a "give him a place to stay" act versus an act of necessity.
Well done to that HONEST LADY for finding that backpack and disclosing the money! You are a rare breed nowadays. I wished the money could go to the shelter to help others.
