One thing that has always bothered me in reading the postings of mainly beach hunters on the forums is:
These people can't wait to get to Virginia Beach or other beaches after the swimmers leave to find the valuables they lost, hoping to find jewelry items worth hundreds of dollars.
Very RARELY do you read where they have tried to return an expensive piece of jewelry or tried to find the owner.
I was watching Dragnet the other day and a guy that found some money on the sidewalk was charged with Theft of Lost Property. I then looked it up and most states have criminal penalties for people who find a valuable item and do not try to return it to the owner.
§ 3924. Theft of property lost, mislaid, or delivered by
mistake.
A person who comes into control of property of another that
he knows to have been lost, mislaid, or delivered under a
mistake as to the nature or amount of the property or the
identity of the recipient is guilty of theft if, with intent to
deprive the owner thereof, he fails to take reasonable measures
to restore the property to a person entitled to have it.
This fact makes a lot of beach hunters and detectorists CRIMINALS.
Opinions please!