The plumber who discovered hundreds of cash-filled envelopes inside a wall at Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch is getting rewarded for his good deed.
Crime Stoppers of Houston announced Tuesday it would give $20,000 to the unidentified plumber. Lakewood Church had originally donated the money to Crime Stoppers in 2014 to offer as a potential reward after $600,000 was taken from a church safe.
“In 2014, Lakewood Church gave us $20,000 to work on this case. In 2016, they chose to gift us those funds for operations. Today, we are gifting that same about of money to this Good Samaritan and wishing he and his family a wonderful holiday season.” Crime Stoppers CEO Rania Mankarious said in a statement.
The reward comes just a week after the plumber called in to Houston radio station 100.3 The Bull and said he once found hundreds of cash-filled envelopes inside a wall at Osteen’s megachurch.
“There was a loose toilet in the wall and we removed the tile, or they removed the tile,” the caller recalled. “[I] went to go remove the toilet and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall and I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’”
The unexpected appearance of money near the toilet spurred the plumber to notify an on-site maintenance supervisor, after which he “turned it all in.” The total amount of cash and checks found in the church wall has not been revealed to the public.
