An 85-year-old South Florida woman rifling through her nightstand for a picture of her ex-husband found something better – a check for $17,500 from her insurance company dated Jan. 23, 1978. The
South Florida Sun-Sentinel says Barbara Cosgrove moved the nightstand from West End, New Jersey, to Miami Beach, then Lauderhill, Fla., before coming across the long-lost check.
The settlement was for a bizarre accident under the Brooklyn Bridge that left her brand-new Lincoln Mark IV smashed.
Cosgrove says the bridge was being painted, and a tarp was hung over the road so cars wouldn’t be splattered with paint. Heavy rain left the tarp overloaded with water, and the tarp came loose, sending the water 200 feet down to the hood of Cosgrove’s Lincoln. The Lincoln’s hood and windshield were smashed, and Cosgrove was hospitalized after the crash, the newspaper said.
Cosgrove says she never realized she received the check and gave up on receiving any compensation from the accident late in 1978.
“I’ve gone in that drawer a thousand times,” she said. “Why didn’t I find it sooner?”
The insurance company that issued the check – The Home Insurance Companies – was declared insolvent in 2004 and had its assets liquidated. A liquidation claims officer told the
Sun-Sentinel that he’ll send Cosgrove a claim form, but he’s not sure it will be fulfilled considering the other claims against the company.
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