Two parents are out more than $1,000 after their 2-year-old boy accidentally got his tiny little hands on their savings. Ben Belnap and Jackee Belnap had saved up to pay back a family member who had graciously fronted them the money for a season pass to their favorite football team, but when they went to bring them the envelope that held the money to pay them back, the funds were nowhere to be found. Enter little Leo Benlap, who not only had found his parents' stash but also masterfully shredded the bills to bits.
Ben Belnap is a hardcore Utah Utes fan. And when a family member gifted him with a season pass, he saved up for a year to pay that person back.
According to NBC News, the dad from Holladay, Utah, had borrowed the money from his parents to buy himself a season pass to watch his favorite football team. Ben and his wife, Jackee, knew they were going to pay back his parents the money, so they saved up for a year and raised more than $1,000 to repay the kind gesture.
"We pulled that money out on Sunday to go take it to pay for our season tickets," he explained to ABC 4. But when they went to grab the envelop that held their cash, it was nowhere to be found.
The couple searched high and low, but the money seemed to be lost. That is, until Jackee took a peek into their shredder.
That's right. All $1,000 had been shredded into strips. And the culprit for this crime? Their 2-year-old son, Leo.
"I'm digging through the trash and she hollers and says, 'I found it. She's holding the shredder and she says, 'I think the money is in here.' We started laughing. We were just baffled that this could happen," Ben told NBC News.
In the past, Leo had liked helping his mom shred their bills, but typically the Benlaps kept the machine turned off.
It seems that the little guy must have been paying attention on how to turn it on because he had done a thorough job in turning the bills into confetti.
Though luckily for little Leo, his parents seem to have a good sense of humor about the incident.
"As devastated and as sick as we were, this was one of those moments where you just have to laugh," Jackee explained to ABC 4.
"Most people they say Oh, a kid drew crayon on the wall or something. I've never heard of a kid shredding a grand," Ben added.
The parents have received some good news though. Ben and Jackee have spoken with the US Treasury and they may be able to get some, or all, of their money back.
"We have a lot of Leo moments," his mom explained. "Most of them are just funny, and we laugh about them for days and big jokes, but this was one of those moments that wasn't his greatest, but we love him."
