How the cats of Dixfield, Maine got here right into a fortune : Planet Cash : NPR


Hobo is without doubt one of the eleven cats who lives with Brenda Jarvis, the chief cat girl of Dixfield, Maine.
Willa Rubin/NPR
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Willa Rubin/NPR

Hobo is without doubt one of the eleven cats who lives with Brenda Jarvis, the chief cat girl of Dixfield, Maine.
Willa Rubin/NPR
Greater than 20 years in the past, one thing uncommon occurred within the small city of Dixfield, Maine. A girl named Barbara Thorpe had left virtually all of her cash—$200,000—to learn the cats of her hometown. When Barbara died in 2002, these cats immediately bought very, very wealthy. And that’s when all the difficulty started.

Brenda Jarvis feeds three of her eleven cats. She’s downsizing—on the top of her cat girl life, she was taking good care of dozens and dozens of the city’s strays.
Jeff Guo/NPR
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Jeff Guo/NPR

Brenda Jarvis feeds three of her eleven cats. She’s downsizing—on the top of her cat girl life, she was taking good care of dozens and dozens of the city’s strays.
Jeff Guo/NPR
Barbara’s reward set off a sprawling authorized battle that drew in a crew of crusading cat girls, and ultimately, the city of Dixfield itself. It made nationwide information. However in spite of everything these years, nobody appeared to know the place that cash had ended up. Did the Dixfield cat fortune simply…vanish?
On this episode, host Jeff Guo travels to Maine to trace down the cash. To determine how Barbara’s plans went awry. And to grasp one thing about this unusual type of financial immortality referred to as a charitable belief.
This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with assist from Dave Blanchard. It was engineered by Josh Newell. Sally Helm edited the present and Sierra Juarez checked the details. Jess Jiang is Planet Cash’s performing Government Producer.

Host Jeff Guo needed to interview many, many cats for this story … all within the identify of journalism!
Willa Rubin/NPR
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Willa Rubin/NPR

Host Jeff Guo needed to interview many, many cats for this story … all within the identify of journalism!
Willa Rubin/NPR
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Music: “A Peculiar Investigation” “Benin Bop” and “Tropical Warmth.”