Magnet fishers in New York find a safe with $100,000 in cash
"We call it the poor man's treasure hunting.”

Magnet fishing near Masters Bridge, Rugby. (Representative image.)
Magnet fishing is one of the more unique hobbies that people got into during the pandemic and it has remained popular even in its aftermath. The idea is simple: anglers drop a heavy magnet into a waterway and see what they can pull up.
It’s pretty common for people to find guns, knives, fishing tackle, scrap metal and even the occasional bicycle. The hobby is popular on YouTube, where there are hundreds of thousands of videos related to the topic.
The hobby is fun for those who get a kick out of finding buried treasure, but it’s also great for the environment. Anglers with magnets that can pull anywhere from 400 to 2,000 pounds have done a great job of removing dangerous waterway debris.
James Kane and Barbie Agostini threw a rope with a magnet into a river and pulled up a safe with an estimated $100,000 inside.
A couple who got into magnet fishing during the pandemic made an incredible catch in the Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens on Friday, May 31, that earned them a spot on the New York 1 News. James Kane and Barbie Agostini threw a rope with a magnet into a river and pulled up a safe with an estimated $100,000 inside.
An American couple has managed to hook a safe filled with nearly AU$150,000 while magnet fishing in a New York lake.
— The Project (@theprojecttv) June 3, 2024
James Kane & Barbie Agostini join us to tell us about the valuable find. pic.twitter.com/VqJTKa0qnM
"We pulled it out and it was big stacks of freaking hundreds," Kane told New York 1. "These are thick stacks—they're soaking wet, they're pretty much destroyed."
Agostini thought Kane was joking when he said there were stacks of money in the safe. “He showed me and once I saw the actual dollars and the security ribbons I lost it,” she said.
To avoid legal trouble, the couple contacted the police to ensure that the safe wasn’t connected to any crimes. "There were no IDs, no way to find the original person, in the safe. [The police] were like: 'Well, congratulations!'" Agostini said.
The police said they had never seen a discovery like it before.
Kane told New York 1 that they got into the hobby during lockdown. “We were bored during COVID lockdown and I’ve always had this itch to become a treasure hunter … so we discovered something called magnet fishing,” Kane said. He calls the hobby “the poor man’s treasure hunting."
Even though the money was soaked and covered in mud, the couple may be able to spend it.
A couple in Queens were stunned to find $100,000 in cash inside an old safe they dredged up while magnet fishing in a NYC lake.
— Evoclique (@Evoclique_) June 2, 2024
The two anglers, James Kane and Barbie Agostini, used a strong magnet to fish in the water on Friday afternoon. They felt something bulky on the end… pic.twitter.com/JczNL2ngq6
They sent it to Washington, D.C., to be cleaned and inspected. "To clean it up takes 6 months to 3 years," Kane told The Project. But we believe this one's not gonna be that long."
One wonders why a safe with so much money wound up in a river. Was it stolen by thieves who ditched it because it couldn’t be opened? Did a jilted lover steal the safe from someone and throw it into the lake so it would be lost forever? Unfortunately, no one knows.
The couple also recently found 6 or 7 vintage guns in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn and a few grenades from World War II.
Do you have a treasure hunter deep inside you who wants to try magnet fishing? Clay Copeland, founder and president of Brute Magnetics, a magnet fishing equipment company in North Georgia, says it’s a relatively affordable hobby.
"Even our highest [priced] Brute Box is $200. There are not many hobbies you can get into and get top-of-the-line equipment for a couple of hundred bucks," he told Mapquest. "That was intentional on our part to open this up to a wide variety of people because it is such an interesting and fun hobby that you just never know what you're going to find."
Copeland says magnet fishing is a lot of fun for families with kids. He magnet fishes with his 5 and 7-year-olds regularly.
"When we throw the magnet out and bring it back ... just seeing that joy in their face when something is coming up, it's the greatest thing ever,” he said.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."