Memphis, TN (abc24.com) - The best of Memphis and the worst of Memphis in the same place, at the same moment. A woman found a large wad of cash on the ground, but a man had his eye on it too, and that set of a chain of events that left the rightful owner of that money absolutely devastated.
"I came through the door, somewhere I lost my money right here," said Ruth Ann Millican.
Not even 20 minutes before, Millican cashed her social security check. She relies on that check to make her house payment and insurance.
As she walked into M & T Groceries on the 700 block of Waring Road, Millican didn't realize she had dropped the cash from that check, more than $600. A look at surveillance video though, and you can clearly see the wad of cash fall from her pocket.
"This is a big amount of money for her, not just little, this is everything," said Deanne Parker, a family friend.
Surveillance video from the store shows exactly what happened. With Millican still in the store, several people walk right past the cash, resting on a mat by the front door.
Finally, a woman walks in, picks up the cash and asks if someone dropped it.
A man in yellow and purple, who minutes before walked into the store, stepping over the cash as he did, claims the money is his. The woman hands him the cash, he puts it into his pocket, pays for something, and leaves.
"I can't explain it, I'm just so hurt," Millican said. "If this guy is watching tonight, he ought to know I want him to know, that he done a terrible thing."
Millican said she filed a police report, and hopes someone will notice the man and call police.
