He said he was impressed that Justin did the right thing and turned in the money. "I wish we had video of our faces because we were all just like, 'holy cow,' Lindsey said. The caller said he contacted the maintenance supervisor and turned the money in.Ĭo-host George Lindsey told CNN that they talked to the man, who said his name was Justin, off the air to make sure it wasn't a prank.
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 caller said. "There was a loose toilet in the wall and we removed the tile. News of the find became public on Thursday when a man who identified himself as the plumber called into Houston radio station 100.3 The Bull and shared the story with the Morning Bullpen show.
"Lakewood immediately notified the Houston Police Department and is assisting them with their investigation." "Recently, while repair work was being done at Lakewood Church, an undisclosed amount of cash and checks were found," the statement said. Lakewood Church confirmed the discovery in a statement provided to CNN, but it did not provide additional information because the investigation is still active. Police said the investigation is ongoing. The money came from contributions given on March 8 and 9 of 2014.īurglary and theft officers inventoried and documented the recovered money and left it in the custody of the church, because it was property found on its premises, the statement said. Police said that evidence from the recovered cheques suggests that the envelopes are connected to the March 9, 2014, theft of undisclosed amounts of money from the church.ĬNN reported at the time that about $600,000 (Sh66 million) in cash and $400,000 (Sh44 million) in cheques was taken from a church safe. "Church members stated that during a renovation project, a large amount of money - including cash, cheques and money orders - was found inside a wall," statement by Houston Police Department read. The Houston Police Department said in a statement last week that "an undisclosed amount of money was inventoried, documented and left in the custody of Lakewood Church since it was property found on its premises.A plumber doing repair work at pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church found hundreds of envelopes of cash and cheques hidden in a wall that police think is connected to a massive 2014 theft at the Houston mega-church.Īccording to CNN, officers were called to the church on November 10 to investigate the discovery. We are appreciative of the plumber and we hope he pays the gift forward.” Lakewood responded to the news in a statement to KPRC: “In 2016, Lakewood Church made a $20,000 charitable donation to Crime Stoppers of Houston to help solve this case and support them for all they do for the community. "I’m trying to make the best of it, and today, the light shined through." The plumber behind the discovery, Justin Cauley, told NBC affiliate KPRC, "This money is going to help tremendously." We believe that it takes all of us, working together, to keep Houston safe and thriving," she added. "Crime Stoppers of Houston is a public safety organization that thrives on the public safety of all communities.
"Today, we are gifting that same of money to this Good Samaritan and wishing he and his family a wonderful holiday season." In 2016, they chose to gift us those funds for operations," Mankarious said in the statement. "In 2014, Lakewood Church gave us $20,000 to work on this case. After years of no word on the case, Lakewood turned that sum into a charitable donation to Crime Stoppers of Houston.įollowing news of the discovery behind the church wall, Crime Stoppers CEO Rania Mankarious asked the Crime Stoppers Executive Committee if the organization could gift $20,000 to the “Good Samaritan” who turned in the money and received approval, the statement said. The Houston Police Department is still investigating the case.īack then, Crime Stoppers of Houston offered a cash reward of up to $5,000, and Lakewood Church added a supplemental reward of $20,000, bringing the total to $25,000 to anyone with information that led to an arrest. "Evidence from the recovered checks suggests that the discovery of was connected to the March 2014 theft," Crime Stoppers of Houston said in a statement. 10 - seven years after the church reported $600,000 in cash and checks stolen from a safe. The envelopes were discovered behind a loose toilet by the plumber while he was doing repairs at the Houston church on Nov. A plumber who discovered stacks of cash and checks inside a wall at celebrity televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church last month has been awarded $20,000 by Crime Stoppers of Houston.
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