Fishermen find ATM machine, guns, casino vouchers in New Orleans canal
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Following Hurricane Francine, magnet fishermen started searching canals and bayous to see what they could find, and they didn’t have to go far to discover something that might help the New Orleans Police Department to solve a crime.
Bryce Nachtwey and Joseph Harrick are magnet fishermen.
“We do something called magnet fishing. Magnet fishing is where you take giant battle magnet, throw in the water and you see what treasures are down there,” Nachtwey said.
These fishermen couldn’t believe what they discovered in a canal off Sheffield Street in New Orleans East.
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“At first, we didn’t realize it was an ATM, then we got it out of the water, and we started freaking out. It was the first ATM machine we ever found, so it was just insane,” Nachtwey said.
But that wasn’t all they found. They also found several guns and a safe.
“When we were pulling the safe up, we could see that there were deposit bags in there and then at the bottom, there was a big brick. I turned it over and opened it and it looked like money. We found casino vouchers, and we thought we hit the jackpot, and we were all going to be able to retire,” Harrick said.
They say the casino vouchers added up to nearly $50,000.
“We were finding $500 tickets, $100 tickets, and there were a ton of tickets,” Nachtwey said.
They soon discovered that the vouchers, the safe and ATM all belonged to Carrollton Station Bar. All were stolen from a robbery a few months ago, so these fishermen notified the NOPD.
“We kind of just connected the dots. We went to return the safe and we basically solved the crime,” Harrick said.
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They returned the vouchers and safe to Carrollton Station Bar. The bar rewarded the fishermen with a $400 bar tab.
They say they use five pound magnets to discover things like ATMs and safes, and the magnets can lift up to 3,500 pounds of weight.
“You never know what you’re going to find,” Harrick said.
In addition to finding treasures, they say their personal goal is to clean up 10,000 pounds of trash this month. So far, they are a little more than halfway there.
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