Ferntree Gully woman uses Facebook to find boy who handed in $115 she dropped in a carpark

WHEN Maryann Schapel dropped $115 in a carpark in Melbourne’s outer east she never expected to see it again. But she didn’t count on the honesty of a 12-year-old boy.

Good samaritan meets with woman

A PUBLIC plea on social media has helped a Ferntree Gully woman track down a boy who handed in more than $100 that she dropped in a public carpark.

Maryann Schapel was shopping at Dorset Square in Boronia on April 17 and dropped $115 in notes, but she only realised she lost the money later that day.

“I was more than a little bit upset,” Ms Schapel said.

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“It’s been a rough couple of months and losing that money would have made life a lot tougher than it needed to be.”

Ms Schapel and her friend went back to the carpark to look for the money, and a man told them a boy and his mother had found the cash and planned to hand it in to police.

She went to the Boronia station and it hadn’t been handed in, but hours later she got a phone call with the good news the cash had been recovered.

Ms Schapel then put a plea up on Facebook to find the boy who handed in her money.

It went viral with more than 800 likes, and led to her reuniting with Alex de Castella, 12, and his mum Susan.

The pair were on their way to an Anzac Day parade when they spotted the $100, $10 and $5 notes on the ground.

They picked up the money and handed it in to police after Alex, who is part of the 1st The Basin Scout Group, marched in the parade.

Ms Schapel said the return of her money “really made my day”.

“I have been unemployed for two months, so to lose $115 when you don’t have any money coming in was a bit upsetting, and to get it back was awesome,” Ms Schapel said.

Ms de Castella said she was proud of her son’s actions.

“It was a lovely gift to be able to make somebody happy,” Ms de Castella said.

Alex said he felt “so happy” to hear how much Ms Schapel had appreciated their honesty.