It is a very Merry Christmas indeed for a Texas plumber.
Justin Cauley, the plumber who discovered hundreds of envelopes in a bathroom wall at Lakewood Church, received a cash supply reward.
Lakewood Church is known to be owned and operated by Joel Osteen and his wife Victoria.
Last week, The Blast reported the discovery of hidden envelopes containing cash and checks.
Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church holds secrets within its walls
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Cauley called local radio station 100.3 The Bull on Thursday December 2nd and told the story of the envelopes.
On November 10, he was doing plumbing in the mega-church when envelopes fell from a bathroom wall.
“There was a loose toilet in the wall and we removed the tiles … I went to remove the toilet and I removed some insulation and about 500 envelopes fell off the wall and I thought, ‘Oh wow,'” the plumber remind.
He said he called the caretaker and turned in the money, and his good deed did not go unnoticed.
Cauley was rewarded with a check for $ 20,000 from Crime Stoppers.
Justin Cauley, aka The Plumber, Receives a Generous Reward!
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Houston news network KPRC 2 caught up with the plumber on camera and asked for his reward.
“My heart stopped beating. I had no idea that was going to happen,” he told KPRC. “You know the bills pile up like I said. Work is starting to get slow so I’m just trying Make the best of it and today that light is shining through.
So if Crime Stoppers awarded Cauley the money, why should he thank Joel and Victoria Osteen?
Here’s the thing, the rediscovered money is allegedly linked to a robbery that the mega-church witnessed in March 2014.
When the money was originally reported stolen, Crime Stoppers Houston offered a cash reward of $ 5,000.00. Lakewood Church offered an additional reward of $ 20,000.00; Two years later, however, the church decided to simply donate the $ 20,000 to the organization.
Crime Stoppers took the money donated by Lakewood Church and gave it to Cauley.
“It’s a blessing, you know, if you hadn’t donated this money, I probably wouldn’t have been here today, and I want to thank you for that,” Cauley told KPRC.
Cauley thanks Joel Osteen for a $ 20,000 reward
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Police said evidence from the seized checks suggests the envelopes are linked to the 2014 theft.
At the time of the alleged robbery, CNN reported that $ 600,000.00 had been withdrawn from a church safe.
The point of sale reported $ 200,000 in cash and $ 400,000 in checks that were stolen; However, this plot has changed completely since the new discovery.
The money came from donations made on March 8 and 9, 2014, according to CNN.
The investigation continues, but Lakewood Church confirmed the discovery in a statement to CNN.
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“Recently, while repairs were being carried out at Lakewood Church, an unknown amount of cash and checks were found,” the statement said. “Lakewood immediately notified the Houston Police Department and assisted them with their investigation.”
The day Cauley called the radio and the news about the hidden envelopes came out, Osteen tweeted“If you believe the negative things people say about you, if you let the circumstances tell you, then you give them the right to fulfill themselves.”
