Moses Lake Police Dig Up $50,000 From Dusty Field In Theft Case

Police in Grant County have recovered a large amount of hard currency in connection to an alleged theft.

The Moses Lake Police Department (MLPD) says 60-year-old Mickael Rivera of Colville made off with $90,000 in cash from a hotel in the 1700 block of Kittleson Road in Moses Lake on July 27.

Investigators say Rivera stole the money from a female companion he'd been traveling with who cashed out what she termed as her "life savings," after fleeing from an allegedly-unsafe domestic circumstance.

Officers located Rivera four days later and found him in possession of $40,000, but the balance of the woman's money was still unaccounted for.

Detectives questioned Rivera after he bonded out of jail the following day, and although he admitted to burying the rest of the cash in the nearby vicinity, he claimed he couldn't remember the exact location.

Officers with the MLPD remained doggedly dedicated to the case, however, and spent the better part of an ensuing day digging for the cash, which they eventually uncovered in a dusty field.

The $50,000 was logged as evidence, pending its full return to the rightful owner.