Eastern Arizona girl sells her prize chickens, but the bank keeps the money

THATCHER, AZ (AZFamily) — In Thatcher, Arizona — about three hours southeast of Phoenix — life moves a little slower.

Raising and selling chickens is how 10-year-old Kinley Maner enjoys her rural life.

"I just thought that it would be fun, because when they're little, they're so cute," Kinley said.

"She really enjoyed it, had a lot of fun, learned a lot about chickens," said J.R. Maner, Kinley's father. "It really taught her kind of strict obedience of being out there and taking care of an animal."

Kinley proudly showed her chickens at the Graham County Fair , eventually putting them up for auction.

In the end, her six chickens sold for a whopping $2,100.

The treasurer of the Small Stock Association wrote Kinley a check, which was electronically deposited at Chase Bank.

"So we cashed it," J.R. said. "Didn't think it would be a big deal. And the next day, Chase closed Kalli's bank account."

And Kinley's check was also frozen, meaning she didn't get that $2,100.

Kinley's mom, Kalli, spent hours on the phone with Chase, trying to get answers.

Chase told the family the check was suspicious because bank officials looked up a phone number for the Small Stock Association and claimed it was out of service.

"Their ultimate response is that, sorry, Kinley is not going to get her money back," J.R. said. "And there's nothing we can do unless we can verify that check."

"The guy who wrote the check has gone into Chase three different times, saying 'Hey, this is me. You can verify it in person,'" Kalli said. "And they said the only way to verify it is through that number on the phone."

Get this: Kinley still doesn't have her $2,100 one year later.

"I was a little bit upset because I deserved that money, and it was supposed to be mine," Kinley said.

"She's a ten-year-old girl who worked hard for this money," J.R. said. "And we think that she deserves to get the money that she rightfully earned."

So, the family contacted On Your Side, and we shared Kinley's story with Chase Bank.

Just a few hours after we did, Chase contacted Kinley, and her family apologized and said they were overnighting a $2,100 check.

"I was surprised when I got it, but I also was excited," Kinley said.

The Maners say it only happened because of On Your Side.

"Oh, absolutely," J.R. said. "I think, if we wouldn't have contacted you guys, it was pretty much a dead end. I don't think we would have got the money back."

Kinley says she might do something fun with a little of that money, but the rest is going right into her college fund.

Thanks to Chase for making this right quickly after On Your Side reached out to them.