Maine
How the cats of Dixfield, Maine came into a fortune — and almost lost it : Planet Money
Willa Rubin/NPR
Greater than 20 years in the past, one thing uncommon occurred within the small city of Dixfield, Maine. A woman named Barbara Thorpe had left virtually all of her cash—$200,000—to learn the cats of her hometown. When Barbara died in 2002, these cats out of the blue acquired very, very wealthy. And that’s when all the difficulty started.
Jeff Guo/NPR
Barbara’s reward set off a sprawling authorized battle that drew in a crew of crusading cat girls, and finally, the city of Dixfield itself. It made nationwide information. However in any case these years, nobody appeared to know the place that cash had ended up. Did the Dixfield cat fortune simply…vanish?
On this episode, host Jeff Guo travels to Maine to trace down the cash. To determine how Barbara’s plans went awry. And to grasp one thing about this unusual type of financial immortality known as a charitable belief.
This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with assist from Dave Blanchard. It was engineered by Josh Newell. Sally Helm edited the present and Sierra Juarez checked the information. Jess Jiang is Planet Cash’s appearing Govt Producer.
Willa Rubin/NPR
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Music: “A Peculiar Investigation” “Benin Bop” and “Tropical Warmth.”