HOUSTON – A plumber who found hundreds of envelopes filled with cash and checks while he was repairing a loose toilet at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church says he’s upset he hasn’t been rewarded.
“I feel like I should get something. I feel like some type of reward should get offered to me,” the plumber told KSAT’s sister station KPRC.
A man claiming to be the plumber called the 100.3 The Bull radio show last Thursday and said he was at the Houston megachurch fixing a loose toilet. He told the radio DJs that when he started moving the toilet and insulation from the wall, roughly 500 envelopes fell onto the floor.
The envelopes are believed to be connected to a March 2014 theft when officials with Lakewood Church reported that $600,000 in donations was stolen - a crime that was never solved, according to KHOU.
“I thought somebody had a little stash,” the plumber said.
Crime Stoppers originally offered a $25,000 reward for anyone who was able to help solve the case but the statute of limitations has passed for the reward and is no longer available for the plumber.
“I didn’t solve their case but I solved very key important clues as to what could or may have happened there,” the plumber said.
Crime Stoppers deputy director told KHOU that despite the statute of limitations expiring, the plumber would have also had to provide information on who took the money to be eligible for the reward in the first place.
KHOU also reported that the $600,000 that was originally stolen was fully insured. At the time of the theft, church officials sent a letter out to more than 40,000 parishioners stating that they were working with their insurance company to restore the funds to the church.
Lakewood Church officials have not publicly addressed the discovery of the envelopes.
“I feel like, at this point, I should have heard something,” the plumber told KPRC.