Honest man returns $40,000 dropped in parking lot

CLACKAMAS, Ore., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- An Oregon man who turned an envelope with $2,000 cash and a $38,000 cashier's check over to authorities said he hopes someone would have done the same for him.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said Sharon Davis, 71, of Portland, dropped the envelope in the parking lot of a Safeway store in Clackamas Jan. 10 and didn't realize it was missing until she went to get coffee at Starbucks and returned to her car, KPTV, Portland, reported Thursday.

Deputies said the envelope was found by Brian DiCarlo, who called the non-emergency hotline for the sheriff's office turned the money over.

"My first thought is that this person, whoever it is, is a wreck, and they are probably losing their mind trying to retrace their steps," DiCarlo said.

"As it turned out, she was putting a down payment down on a house, and this was all for that stuff," DiCarlo said. "If she loses it she can't do what she was hoping to do, and I guess I would have hoped someone would have done it for me."

Deputies said there was paperwork in the envelope for a home Davis was in the process of purchasing and the papers led to the money being returned to its rightful owner, who was still searching the parking lot when deputies tracked her down.

"What a good and amazing man," Davis said of DiCarlo.

DiCarlo was humble about his actions.

"I'm just glad I was in the right place at the right time," he said.