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The Texas plumber who found cash stashed in the walls of Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church will be rewarded with $20,000 for coming forward with the discovery.
The plumber, only identified as Justin, found about 500 envelopes stashed in the walls of the church last month. It is still unclear how much money was discovered in the walls. Houston police said the recovered money is in connection to a 2014 robbery at the church, where $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks were stolen from a church safe.
Service at Lakewood Church in Houston, where Pastor Joel Osteen preaches to some 25,000 people each week. There are currently 842 mega churches that host an excess of three million people on any given Sunday. Mega churches are loosely defined as non-Catholic churches with at least 2,000 weekly attendants. (Photo by Timothy Fadek/Corbis via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
A group called Crime Stoppers of Houston announced a $5,000 reward back in 2014 for information in the case. Lakewood put up a supplemental reward of $20,000 at the time, which the church donated to Crime Stoppers in 2016.
Crime Stoppers of Houston announced Justin will now receive the $20,000 reward.
"Crime Stoppers of Houston is a public safety organization that thrives on the public safety of all communities. We believe that it takes all of us, working together, to keep Houston safe and thriving. 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, according to a press release from the group.
A long line of cars wait to get into the Lakewood church which was designated as a shelter for Hurricane Harvey victims in Houston, Texas August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking (REUTERS/Rick Wilking)
JOEL OSTEEN’S HOUSTON CHURCH HAD $600K INSIDE WALL FROM 2014 ROBBERY, PLUMBER CLAIMS
The discovery was made public when Justin gave an interview on a radio station, recounting how he was doing renovation on the church when the envelopes fell from the wall.
"There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile," he said on 100.3 FM’s morning show. "We went to go remove the toilet, and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall."
Justin said in another interview earlier this week saying he was "upset" that he had not heard from the church following the discovery.
"I wanted to hear [Joel Osteen] say, ‘You know, Justin, what you did was right. We understand what you did and what you could have done,’" he said after attending a service held by Osteen on Sunday.
Pastor and best-selling author Joel Osteen gives the invocation before Annise Parker is publicly sworn in as mayor of the United States' fourth largest city in Houston January 4, 2010. Houston on December 12, 2009 became the first major U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, Parker, after a hotly contested run-off election that gave gay and lesbian supporters a symbolic victory following defeats over legalizing same-sex marriages in California and Maine. REUTERS/Richard Carson (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION)
"I feel like, at this point, I should have heard something," he said. "I’m just a little upset."
A publicist for Lakewood told Fox News later Wednesday that Justin was invited to Lakewood Church to meet with Osteen this weekend, noting "Joel would love to meet him."
The church also released a statement on the reward Tuesday, saying they hope Justin "pays the gift forward."
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"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. We are appreciative of the plumber, and we hope he pays the gift forward," the church said in a statement on Tuesday.
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