Good Samaritan hands back found $30,000 to owner who sold Pokémon collection to pay sister’s medical costs

Counting out the returned cash at Riviera Beach Police Department after it was handed back (Picture: The Riviera Beach Police Department) Leaving your phone in a public toilet is bad enough. Leaving behind $30,000 (£22,000) in cash is another level entirely. Luckily for the forgetful person in this story, the guy who went on to find that fat stack of currency was the sort of person to do the right thing and hand it back. The anonymous 24-year-old Floridian who lost the money had stopped at a branch of the convenience store and gas station Wawa in Palm Beach County earlier this month to use the restroom while driving to a family gathering. Tucked inside a black fanny pack was $30,023 in cash, which he had managed to raise by selling off a significant amount of his sizeable Pokémon collection. The money was going towards paying for a vital medical procedure for his sick younger sister, who doesn’t have health insurance. However, after doing his business in the facilities, the young man left and drove off without the bag. Panic first set in after the 24-year-old returned to this Wawa car park and realised the bag had disappeared (Picture: Getty Images) When he realised what had happened somewhere down the road towards Coral Springs, the panic began to kick in. When he returned to the convenience store, the fanny pack had vanished. The cash was gone. His heart sank. ‘I thought I was absolutely screwed,’ the unidentified man told The Washington Post. But while this had all the makings of a grim life lesson, the outcome could not have been more different. More than $30,000 in cash was left behind inside this Florida petrol station restroom (Picture: WPBF News) Police in Riviera Beach opened a grand theft investigation after the missing bag was reported. Security footage later showed 58 year-old Luis Salavar leaving the bathroom carrying the fanny pack in one hand after finding it hanging on a disabled support rail. According to police spokesman Mike Jachles, Salavar searched the shop and car park trying to find the owner before leaving. Salavar later said he got into the white Ford van he was renting and checked inside the bag hoping to find some identification. Instead he found bundles of $100 and $50 bills. ‘My heart just dropped,’ he said. Construction worker Luis Salavar said returning the money was simply ‘the right thing’ to do (Picture: The Riviera Beach Police Department) The construction worker said keeping the money never crossed his mind. ‘$30,000 is great, but it’s not mine to keep,’ Salavar said. ‘I like to earn my money’ Rather than hand the bag straight to staff or police, Salavar tried to track down the owner himself because he didn’t trust the money would find its way back otherwise. He remembered the man from the bathroom had dark curly hair, beige sandals, blue jeans and a white shirt. Selling off valuable Pokémon cards helped raise the cash for the man’s younger sister’s medical procedure (Picture: AFP/Getty Images) A few days later, investigators identified Salavar through the rental van he’d been driving. Officers contacted him on May 7 and asked him to come to the police station with the bag. When the two men met, Salavar recognised the sandals immediately. ‘This is yours,’ he recalled saying. ‘You’re a lifesaver,’ the younger man replied, feeling more than a little relieved. Speaking after the reunion, Salavar said he never considered keeping the money for himself (Picture: The Riviera Beach Police Department) The owner counted the cash at the station. Every dollar was still there. He later handed the money over to his sister for her treatment a few days later. Police eventually concluded the case was ‘a lost property’ incident rather than a theft investigation at all. The 24 year-old offered to take Salavar out for dinner afterwards as a thank you. Salavar turned him down. ‘I just did the right thing,’ he said. ‘I don’t need to be put on a pedestal.’ Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source