Toddler in Orange Beach finds dollar bill stuffed with the deadly drug fentanyl
By Hal Scheurich
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ORANGE BEACH, Alabama (WALA) — A family visiting Orange Beach found themselves faced with a scary situation Tuesday night, June 21, 2022. A small child found a folded dollar bill on the ground in a crowded public parking lot. Inside it, Orange Beach Police found the deadly drug, fentanyl.
“My son-in-law was fixing to put it in his billfold. He was going to unfold it and put it in his billfold,” recalled Randy Turner. “It could have been really bad because that would have gotten all over every one of us.”
Turner and his family all felt fortunate to still be enjoying their beach vacation Wednesday. Had things gone just a little differently, they could have been in the hospital or worse. The family was enjoying a trip to a popular outdoor venue when Turner’s 13-month-old grandson saw something on the ground and went to pick it up. The child’s mother stepped in and picked up the folded dollar bill. She set it on a nearby table.
“And my son-in-law was sitting beside me,” Turner said. “He just reached over and got the dollar and was starting to unfold it. My son said, ‘Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.’ He said, ‘Don’t touch that dollar.’”
Turner’s son, Jake flicked the money across the table and that’s when a white powdery substance came out of it. Fortunately for the rest of the family, Jake knew there was something suspicious about the money.
“I’ve seen on Facebook. Stuff’s been put on that. Be careful of dollars that’s laced with fentanyl and stuff like that, but I never thought I’d be…I never thought I’d see it,” said Jake.
The Turners immediately went to security, who called the police. A field test was done to confirm the powder was fentanyl. After the family was observed for a while, they were able to leave. Orange Beach Police said that while fentanyl-laced money has been showing up more around the country, this is the first case they’ve seen.
“I can’t say it’s becoming a national concern, but I can say, if it is and we have visitors from all over the country in our area, to please be careful. If you see money folded up on the ground and it doesn’t look normal, don’t pick it up. Leave it alone. If you suspect anything suspicious, please call your local law enforcement,” explained Lt. Trent Johnson with Orange Beach Police.
Police aren’t sure whether the money was dropped on purpose for someone to find or by accident. While police said they’d like to find out its origin, that will be difficult because there are no security cameras in the area this happened.
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