Found a lost key with a $500 reward? Olympia woman says it’s part of a ruse to harass her
It began on March 8. A man arrived at Olympia resident Emily Bergkamp’s home where her husband, Jude, got an odd request from the stranger. The man was looking for a reward for returning a set of lost keys with a message displayed on the key fob: “$500 REWARD IF FOUND,” as well as Bergkamp’s name and home address.
The problem, Bergkamp’s husband told the stranger, is that there was no $500 reward. The key didn’t even belong to them. The stranger grew emphatic and insisted on receiving the reward. He finally left, but the Bergkamps were left befuddled by the interaction.
That wasn’t the end of it, though.
The next day, Emily received a private message on Facebook messenger from a woman claiming she found a key with the same fob and the promise of a $500 reward.
“It took me awhile to figure out what might be going on,” she told The Olympian in an interview.
Since those first interactions in March, people have continued to show up at Bergkamp’s home in Olympia with a “lost” key, hoping to get the promised $500 reward. Bergkamp says she believes it’s part of a scheme to harass her and her family. She doesn’t understand who is behind the scheme or why.
About 40 duplicates of the keys with Bergkamp’s personal information have been discovered over the past few months, the Olympia resident says. The keys have been found scattered around Olympia and Lacey on sidewalks and in parking lots of businesses such as Lowe’s and Walmart.
Bergkamp says she and her family now feel unsafe because they don’t know how people will react when they explain the keys are part of a hoax.
“They (the person making the keys) know that people will try to come to our home. ... We’ve had people get aggressive,” Bergkamp said.
People who have come across keys have tried to contact Bergkamp in a variety of ways. Some have contacted her cellphone. Many have come directly to her home. One person has shown up at her work office.
“My husband and I have thought long and hard about why someone would be doing this,” Bergkamp said.
She said they don’t know anyone in their personal lives who would be motivated to orchestrate a scheme of this magnitude against them. This has led her to suspect the harassment is related to her job. She is currently the interim general manager of Intercity Transit, Thurston County’s bus system, which puts her in a visible position to the public.
Bergkamp said she often has to make tough decisions in that role that not everyone may agree with.
A detail about the keys that perplexes Bergkamp is that the fobs display the Jewish Star of David symbol. Bergkamp said she and her family aren’t Jewish, but she suspects whoever is behind the scheme could be mistakenly assuming that she is.
She says the Olympia Police Department is investigating the situation and is treating it as a harassment case. Officers have retrieved footage from locations where keys have been found, but they have no leads so far.
If you find a key
Bergkamp is asking the public to return keys to local authorities and not show up at her residence or work. On the off chance people do end at her home, a sign outside informs visitors about the bogus $500 reward and harassment case. She also made a post on Facebook on May 7 to inform the community about the scheme.
Aside from Bergkamp’s troubling experience, she believes that she and her family aren’t the only people who have become distressed by the situation. Those who discover the keys and venture to return them also are being victimized. Bergkamp spoke about one man she saw on her home security footage. He approached her front door, and when he read the sign she had left, he looked defeated.
“He was visibly distraught ... there’s a lot of folks fumbling,” Bergkamp said. “A $500 reward could be a game changer.”
Above all, Bergkamp appreciates the community support she has received.
“I’ve been living in Olympia for 30 years,” Bergkamp said. “Whoever is doing this isn’t representative of the community.”
Anyone with information regarding the ongoing incident, including where they have found keys or anyone seen dropping keys off, should call the police at 360-753-8300.
This story was originally published May 11, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
