A Mysterious Hunt for Cash Is Underway in a Canadian City

Miramichi, New Brunswick, residents can thank Roman Dungarvan, whoever that is
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted May 13, 2022 2:30 AM CDT
Clues Keep Leading to Cash Hidden in This Canadian City
This is Getty's single stock photo of Miramichi.   (Getty Images)

It'll be a Friday the 13th like no other in the small Canadian city of Miramichi. The New Brunswick locale is home to 17,600 people, and someone among them has started hiding $100 bills with sometimes creepy clues leading to them. And on Friday the 13th comes the big money: $100 bills squirreled away in 13 locations. The clues are doled out on Facebook by an account belonging to Roman Dungarvan, who describes himself as having the "Dungarvon Whooper" as an ancestor and returning to town to "make amends." As the Washington Post explains, Dungarvon Whooper is an old ghost story about a 19th-century Irish cook who was found murdered in a lumber camp near the Dungarvon River.

The Canadian Press reports he is said to haunt the site, making an eerie "whooping" sound at night. The clues tend to relate to horror films, Friday the 13th and Prom Night among them, though the Globe and Mail reports the first clue was pretty straightforward: "May 1, 7 P.M. $100 hidden at Ritchie Wharf." Roman Dungarvan posts those clues to a Miramichi Mystery Machine Facebook group, which has rapidly grown to about 5,000 members. Roman Dungarvan has yet to be unmasked, but his game is turning out to be a draw, with money-seekers driving in from locations as far as three hours away to participate.

He did, however, agree to speak to the Globe and Mail, and told the paper that despite requests, he won't be recreating his game in other bigger cities. Miramichi's size, he says, is key: He's managed to get an outsize amount of attention. "I think $100 is a lot of money in a community like this. But I think more importantly it’s about the camaraderie. People are hitching rides with one another, they’re making friends, it’s getting them out of their houses." He says he's giving away $2,500 of his own funds. (More mystery stories.)

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