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Construction Worker Returns $30,023 Found in Wawa Restroom

Security footage with a rental-van lead enabled police to confirm the finder and bring both men together at a Riviera Beach station.

Overview

  • Luis Salazar, a construction worker, found a black fanny pack overflowing with cash in a Wawa restroom on May 3 and kept searching the store and parking lot for the owner.
  • Salazar opened the bag when he could not find the owner, discovered bundles of bills, and said he never considered keeping the money because it did not belong to him.
  • Riviera Beach police reviewed surveillance video, traced Salazar through the rental van he was driving, and arranged a meeting at the station where the owner counted every dollar and recovered the full $30,023 on May 7.
  • The 24-year-old owner told reporters he had sold a childhood Pokémon collection to raise the cash for his uninsured younger sister’s medical procedure and then used the returned funds to pay for her care.
  • Police closed the incident as a lost-property matter, Salazar declined reward or special recognition, and the case highlighted how families sometimes sell personal valuables to cover medical costs.