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The Ingrams first stated intent was to see if they could turn the money in at a bank and get new bills back or a finder's fee - from a bank. That's what they told people and pursued. They even separated the money into groups and single bills, and cleaned them, with a bank reimbursement in mind. But that was before any hint of the money being important, least of all linked to the Cooper crime. That link came unexpectedly after a friend of Harold's suggested he should talk to a local Deputy ... which lead to him calling the FBI the end of the next work day, Monday,  at 5:00pm.

The original intent was to cash the money in at a bank. That was the Ingram's stated intention and the purpose for their actions prior to contacting law enforcement. Once the Cooper linkage surfaced with the money now being "important", the notion of a reward surfaced, and had the FBI's standing offer of a reward for information in the Cooper case not expired prior to the Ingram find, the FBI might very well have offered the Ingrams a reward. The FBI finally informed the Ingrams that a reward was not possible. The Ingrams began lobbying for a reward for Brian and even contacted area radio stations in that regard (both Pat and Crystal were interviewed) Crystal made a claim in behalf of her daughter, Denise, and pushed that at one radio station.

We know the rest -

The only thing suspicious to me are the conflicting stories about Brian building a fire, and sighting "a lump in the sand" before or after he started to move sand to build the socalled 'fire pit'. Brian has given conflicting accounts of that over the years. Fact is, he may not even remember exactly what happened and in what order. But at some point a "lump of something" became apparent to Brian, and Denise right next to him, and they dug to remove the obstacle ... and rather quickly it was apparent to Brian it was money ... a wad of money.

Brian says that the rubber bands were visible and intact, but "crumbled to dust when touched", or some variant of that story. I don't think Brian's story is physically possible, or happened as he says it happened? I am reminded of stories about opening mummies, "and for one instant he was there in perfect condition as if buried just minutes ago, and then turned to dust and nothing, right in front of our eyes!". I place Brian's account of the rubber bands in that category ... it's rather humorous and something an eight year old would say, after adults said it first?  The bands would not have been viable rubber bands, in any event.

In the end it's the forensics that matter.
         

It would be normal for an 8 year olds recollections to change.. but there are some strange things here,

They intended to build a fire at 3:30 Sunday afternoon when Brian found the "money" he claimed his parents thought it was "counterfeit", not usually a word an eight year old may understand, however the Sun sets at 6:00 at that time of year but they left the Bar at 5:30. So, 2 hours,,

Why intend to build a fire at 3:30 then leave in two hours before sunset?
Did they actually build that fire?
Why did they decide to leave within two hours well before sunset?
What did they do in those two hours?

At home the Bills were placed on a cabinet to dry..

Dwayne thought it was mob money or lost money.. (the counterfeit idea has changed)

Dwayne claims that Monday morning at 10 AM he calls a bank from work to inquire about exchanging the Bills, "they had to check the numbers." Perhaps Wayne had actually called the bank figure out how to get the numbers confirmed and proceed to get the reward..  did the Bank suggest calling the FBI?

He called FBI Monday evening. At a news conference he says he decided against taking it to local police because he thought he would never see it again. Later, he walks back that statement.

Did they leave the Bar because they thought the money was "counterfeit" or because Dwayne knew there wasn't any more. If, on Monday Dwayne thought it was mob money or lost why wouldn't he return to search for more, maybe the next weekend.

They never returned to look for more. Most people would have returned to look for more.. before giving up the location.

Pat had expected a $45,000 reward,,,

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But beyond those events, the money find is an extremely high sigma event, the serious fire in their home a sigma event, the arrest a sigma event.

event a X event b X event c = an off the charts probability. So, are they inter-related, the arrest was initiated by the exposure from the money find but what was the cause of the fire? was it a break in? a fight? a message from an accomplice.

Could Dwayne have found the money elsewhere or did he get it from somebody else who couldn't monetize it, perhaps to share any reward. Was Dwayne used by somebody else in an attempt to get the reward $$??  Was the house fire related to the money find?

The Ingrams moved away soon after this.. again this is all strange.

The lack of diatoms indicates that the bills were never exposed to the Columbia River water, or at least until the bundles and other bills/fragments had been covered by a "protective" coating of sand or other goo.  While this argument can be used to support a plant theory, it also supports a theory that Cooper did not land in the Columbia River itself.

They may have done a quick search, but not as thorough as one would expect finding buried cash.

Diatoms

This is another mystery. Why were no diatoms found on the bills? Were they only exposed to the elements for a matter of hours at T-Bar, and as a result had no opportunity to develop a diatom-friendly environment?

Or, did all traces of diatoms vanish through natural means over the 35 years between discovery and testing by Tom Kaye and his crew?

Fly, you've mentioned a few times that you are surprised that the Ingrams didn't go looking for more money after the initial discovery. However, Brian did tell me in Portland in 2011 that he and his family went looking all over the beach and didn't find any more money.

I believe him. Do you?

Brian's statements would seem to discount the federal version that when they showed up a couple days later they found shards on the beach, at the "tide line" down to a depth of 12 inches, and in a circular area beneath the initial tres bundolas down to three feet and radiating out for 20 yards, as stated by several agents, most notably the PIO Dorwin Schroeder and SA Mike McPheters. Their statements have been recorded here and elsewhere (such as my book!) on several occasions by multiple posters.

However, where the shards went after discovery has been an ongoing controversy. Your clip from the Eugene Register-Guard of 2. 13. 86 is very revealing, when it says that the money found at T-Bar stayed in the evidence room in Portland for the prior five years. This would seem to challenge Jerry Thomas' assertions that the "shards all went up to Seattle," as he posted recently, allegedly speaking for Himmelsbach. Remember, getting a more exact clarification from RH is tough, as he is a guy who won't talk without money up front unless one drives up to his front door unexpectedly and unannounced, as one Well-Known reporter did a few years ago....(smile).

Currently, I know of no one who knows where the shards are, or where any documentation might be on what was found and where. The Citizen Sleuths had a lot to say about this conundrum in 2011 in Portland. At least over breakfast...(Tom and Abracadabra).