Owls Justify Faith as Good-Luck Sign, Let Man Recover $13,000 He Lost

ANAHUAC, Tex. — A used car salesman who always considered owls good luck discovered just how much fortunate he could be when the birds helped him recover more than $13,000 in lost money.

Alfonso Flores Jr. lost the cash two months ago when it dropped from a suitcase tied to the back of his car June 16 as he drove along Interstate 10.

“An owl has always meant good luck,” Flores, 34, of Houston told the Houston Chronicle in an interview published Friday.

Flores had used strips of memo paper featuring pictures of an owl to bind his money into $1,000 bundles. He was carrying the large amount of cash because he does not trust banks, he said.

Of about 80 people who called the Chambers County Sheriff’s Department to claim the money, Flores was the only one who knew about the owls.