A treasure hunter helped a Massachusetts family a settle decades-old rumor that money had been hidden somewhere inside their house since the 1950s. Within an hour's time, Keith Wille found the $46,000 in a lockbox that was hidden under the home’s floorboards.

“Cash was packed to the lid,” said the Connecticut-based treasure hunter, who makes his living finding things people have lost. Using his trusty metal detector, he started the search in the family attic. He then used an endoscope camera to better examine the floorboards and a crack in the corner, and he saw something weird and realized, “oh man, this was a keyhole,” he said, which he explains in a video, CBS local affiliate, WFSB News reported.

Wille said the bills were neatly wrapped in $5,000 bundles that were all in their original bank straps. 

“I think it was shocking. I think we were all in shock,” Wille said, according to People. 

He said all denominations were in the bundles, and individual bills were dated 1934, 1935, and 1950. He explained that the date 'December 19, 1958,' along with the teller number, was stamped on each currency strap. And, that silver certificates were visible in three of the bundles.

He suspected that the person who left the money behind was most likely from the Great Depression, pointing out on his site that $46,000 in 1958 was the equivalent of $421,603 in 2021, according to People.

The family said her uncle and another family member tried to find the buried treasure along with carpenters they hired in the past, but their attempts were unsuccessful. The family found Wille after doing a search on the web. 

“The family was running out of time,” Wille said “They’ve been wanting to sell this house for a few years but the rumored treasure was stopping them to do so."

Following the discovery, one of the family members identified as Karen told Wille that her aunt and uncle had previously lived in the house and that the home had been in the family since it was built. The treasure, she said, was hidden “a long long time ago.” 

She told WFSB that she wasn’t sure how she’d spend all the money but said she was just relieved the mystery was finally solved 

“I’m just glad it was finally found,” she said.

As for Wille, he said the cash box was his most exciting find ‘to date.’

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