Vet Buys 125-Yr-Old Chest for $100 but Returns It When He Finds ‘Treasure-Filled Secret Drawer’

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From the archives: This story was last updated in February 2019.

This U.S. vet bought an antique chest with a marble top from an estate sale after the owner passed away. When the ex-soldier found treasures hidden in a secret compartment, he decided to do what any upstanding military man would do.

Ex-Marine and retired marketing director Emil Knodell is fascinated with collecting antiques. So when he learned of an estate sale of a man who had died in Missouri City, Texas, Knodell went to scoop some treasure.

When Knodell arrived at the sale, a vintage chest with a marble top, which dated back to around 1890, soon drew his attention, and he decided to buy it at a reduced price of $100.

“Because it has a nice marble top, I hope to use it in my dining room,” Knodell, from Bellville, Texas, told ABC News.

Illustration - TheUjulala/Pixabay

Knodell heard a rattling sound when the chest was loaded in his car. After further examination, he found a secret compartment, inside which the real treasures were hidden.

“There were rings, diamonds, gold, and all kinds of stuff. It was a real adrenaline rush. Both of us were in shock for a second,” said Jeff Allen, who helped Knodell to load the chest.

Both of them immediately decided to return the treasure to its owner.

“I bought the chest drawers. I didn’t buy those things. If I kept them, I would never feel right about it. There would be a cloud over the whole thing. It’s a feeling more than anything else,” said Knodell.

“I’m an old ex-Marine and I try to do the right thing. Jeff also, the man in charge, his immediate reaction was, ‘Let’s call the owner.’ There was never a question of anyone keeping it; it was: ‘This is fantastic. Let’s call the owner and get the stuff back to them.’”

They got a hold of the estate owner, the son of the man who died.

“He remembers that dresser in a house in Michigan when he was a little child—in his grandfolks’ house,” Allen said. “And he had no idea there was a hidden compartment.”

Though this incident happened in 2015, this inspiring story takes us back to the good ol' days when people believed in honesty, honor, and doing the right thing ... even when no one is looking over their shoulder. Remember those days?

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