Honest airman returns $9,000

By SrA. Jodi Jordan
16th Special Operations Wing/PA
Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Good guys still exist, and one of them is an airman from the 25th Intelligence Squadron, who recently returned more than $9,000 in found money.

Heading home in his car after a late-night training flight, SrA. Jason Baxter crossed the intersection of Racetrack Road and Beal Parkway.

Although it was midnight, the street was well lit, and Baxter saw what he thought was a book, maybe a Bible, lying in the road.

He said his thought was, “If that was mine, I’d want someone to return it to me,” so he stopped to pick it up.

The book turned out to be a leather appointment book, with two zippered pockets on the outside. Looking in the first pocket, he found about six dollars and a driver’s license. But when he opened the second pocket, he got a surprise.

“There was a big wad of cash - hundred-dollar bills,” Baxter said.

Once he arrived home, he counted the money. There was more than $9,000 cash.

For some, the decision to return or keep the money might have been difficult. Not for Baxter. He immediately called the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department and reported his find.

“That’s just the right thing to do,” Baxter said. “Integrity is one of the Air Force’s core values, and I’m also a Christian.”

The sheriff’s department sent Deputy William Schinstine to Baxter’s residence. Schinstine took Baxter’s statement, and Baxter handed the appointment book and cash over to the deputy.

Schinstine was able to locate the owner of the appointment book. Karrie Jo Blakston, 19, and her boyfriend had withdrawn the cash earlier in the day.

They were going to use the money to pay for their wedding, Schinstine said. Blakston had forgotten the appointment book on top of her car and driven away.

Schinstine said Blackston was “elated and thankful that there are still some honest people in the world.”