ROME, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Police in southern Italy have salvaged a box of gold ingots from a waste-sorting plant after an absent-minded resident accidentally threw out the treasure with his household
Golden garbage: Italian police recover mislaid ingots from junkyard
Gold Ingots Recovery Incident
ROME, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Police in southern Italy have salvaged a box of gold ingots from a waste-sorting plant after an absent-minded resident accidentally threw out the treasure with his household rubbish, officers said on Thursday.
Incident Overview
The man walked into a Carabinieri police station in Porto Cesareo, near the city of Lecce, to report that a casket containing 20 gold bars, worth about 120,000 euros ($142,000), had vanished, the police said in a statement.
Investigation Process
Investigators quickly traced the movements of the man, who was not named, and reviewed security-camera footage.
Outcome of the Recovery
The images suggested the box had been tossed into a public bin at a nearby beach resort, and further investigations revealed it had been transferred to the local waste disposal facility.
"After several hours of careful sifting, the officers managed to find the box which, though damaged, still contained all the gold bars ... which were then returned to their rightful owner," the statement said.
($1 = 0.8415 euros)
(Reporting By Gavin Jones, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
