His Honesty In Returning Money Paid Off In The End -- Man Sends $100 Thanks

KIRKLAND

Greg Skau says he had never read a story that left such an impression on his sense of right and wrong.

On reading a June 1 news story about Craig Alcantara, a Michigan man who had recovered $100,560 from an armored-car accident and returned it all, Skau, of Kirkland, was moved.

He had never met Alcantara, but wanted to thank him anyway. After calling Alcantara on the phone, he sent him a $100 money order for his daughter's college education.

"It's just one of those gut things that struck me as the right thing to do," Skau said yesterday.

Alcantara, 29, of Westland, Mich., was working two jobs to support his wife and 3-month-old daughter when $247,000 in unmarked $20 bills fell out of an armored car in a May 27 crash near Detroit.

Following the truck in his car, Alcantara stopped amid a swarm of motorists and scooped up a sack of money.

When he arrived home, Alcantara celebrated with his wife, saying they could pay for their daughter's education, go to Jamaica and fulfill their dreams.

Local news reports said the money was untraceable and police had no description of him or his vehicle.

But after a couple of days, Alcantara began to feel guilty and returned the cash.

"I was hardly eating, hardly sleeping," he said.

Besides the money Alcantara returned, police recovered only $3,000, leaving more than $140,000 unaccounted for.

"He (Skau) thought it was a pretty neat thing to do, but I had

people call me and say I was an idiot," Alcantara said.