A Silicon Valley recycling center is trying to get in touch with a woman who left them a rare Apple home computer which was subsequently purchased for $200,000 by a private collector.

The Apple 1 computer was one of only around 200 units built by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne in 1976 and was given to Clean Bay Area by a mystery woman who failed to leave any contact information. The rare Apple was hidden amongst other electronic items that were cleared out of a garage after the death of her husband, but was only discovered several weeks later when staff sorted through the boxes.

As the recycling center operates a policy of returning 50% of the sale value to the original owner, they are now on the lookout for the woman as there is a $100,000 windfall awaiting her.

Search is on for woman who threw away $200K computer