IRVINE (California) - THE box of crackers Debra Rogoff bought from the grocery store had some crackerjack in it - an envelope stuffed with US$10,000 (S$14,482).

Yet the Irvine woman was more curious than ecstatic about her daughter's find. After all, who would leave money in such a place?

'We just thought, 'This is someone's money,'' she said. 'We would never feel good about spending it.'

Rather than go on a shopping spree, the family called police and was initially told the money could be part of a drug drop.

Police later heard from store managers at Whole Foods in Tustin that an elderly woman had come in a few days earlier, hysterical because she had mistakenly returned a box of crackers with her life savings inside. In a mix-up the store restocked the box rather than composting it.

The Lake Forest woman, whose identity was not released, had lost faith in her bank and decided the box would be a safer place for the money.

Luckily for her, the box of Annie's Sour Cream and Onion Cheddar Bunny crackers were bought by the Rogoffs, who discovered the crisp US$100 bills in an unmarked white envelope on Oct 10.

The Rogoffs never heard from the woman and didn't receive a reward, but Rogoff did return to Whole Foods a couple weeks later.

'I asked them if I could have another box of crackers,' she said with a laugh. The store obliged. -- AP