Man strapped for cash, finds bag filled with $125,000 and turns it in to police
A Fresno, California man without much money of his own, recently found a bag filled with $125,000 and turned it in to the police.
As reported by KMPH Fox 26, Joe Cornell is in the Salvation Army rehabilitation program and was volunteering at the Downtown Fresno location when he made the big find. Joe recounted, “I was watering my plants here, my trees, when an armored car stopped right here on the corner and I thought it was kinda strange. Another car pulled up on side of [the armored car driver], yelling at him. I heard him yelling, ‘Hey you dropped something.’” The Brink’s car kept driving. Curious, Cornell said, “I looked up the street there decided to go investigate and I walked out here a little ways, just past the bridge and found a bag and there was bags of, money sticking out of it so I opened the bag and it was full of money.” The orange bag contained not just cash, but also checks.
Cornell said he thought, "‘Well, what type of man do I want my grandkids to think I am?' So, my grandkids were on my mind and I want them to think I was a just man, you know, that I do the right thing. So decided to do the right thing." He returned to the Salvation Army and called his boss about the discovery. “I said, ‘Hey I found some money.’ And I think they thought I was kidding. They said, ‘Oh, bring it down,’” Cornell said. He also called the police, and they took a report. “[The officer] told me, he said, ‘You’re about one in a million. Not many people would have turned that in.’”
Mr. Cornell’s determination helped him make the decision. “I'm trying to get my life together, you know so I want them to be proud of me," the honest man said. Indeed, Cornell’s family was proud of him. His wife spoke to KMPH and said that “she burst into tears” because she was so proud of what her husband did.
So far, there has been no news of a reward or thank you for Mr. Cornell’s honorable action. The station tried to speak to a Brink’s representative but their email messages have not been returned.
Video and more info: KMPH
