A teenager in Scottsdale, Arizona, got the chance to act as a real-life knight in shining armor when he found an envelope in a parking lot that contained nearly $13,000 in cash. That young man’s name is Jack Davis, and he was only 15 when he found the money back in November 2020.
Davis and his mother had just parked their car when they saw the envelope on the ground and no owner in sight. They were heading into Nordstrom Rack to do some shopping when they realized they needed to find the owner of the money first.
The envelope belonged to Thu Dinh, who works at a nail salon connected to the same parking lot. She left work early that day because she was feeling unwell. She had recently withdrawn the cash because she felt nervous about the economy due to all of the strife in 2020.
Dinh put the envelope in her purse and called her husband to pick her up and take her to the emergency room. While waiting for him in her car, she opened the door and leaned out because she felt sick to her stomach, and it was at this moment that the envelope fell out onto the ground without her noticing.
After Davis found the envelope, which also contained Dinh’s ID and credit cards, he and his mother took it to the police station, where officials were able to reunite the money with its rightful owner. It is fortunate that Davis was in the right place at the right time and that it was such a responsible person who found the envelope.
This heartwarming story was covered by CBS 5 news team, which got the chance to speak with Davis about what happened. “What’s going through my mind is, somebody wants this back and I want to find out who and make sure they can get it back,” he said. It’s remarkable that we hear about such heroic actions from a young man who was only a freshman in high school at the time.
Dinh was having a pretty terrible day before she had even lost her envelope containing $12,900 and her credit cards. “I got really dizzy and I told them, I cannot stay, I have to go home,” she said. “I think about an hour later, somebody called me and asked me, had I lost something, I said ‘I’m dying right now I don’t know what I lost!'” That call came from the Scottsdale police department.
Remarkably the money had been returned before Dinh had even noticed it was missing. She had no idea how lucky she had been. “If we parked on the other, you know, opposite side of that row of parking spaces we probably very well would have not noticed it,” Davis told CBS regarding the incident.
Davis is a great kid who takes responsibility seriously. “It’s a lot of money and somebody had to work very hard for it. It takes a lot of work to make a little bit of money and I respect people who go out and they work very hard to get a better life for themselves and make more money,” he said. Davis seems quite mature for his age and we are sure he will grow up to be a fantastic adult.
Once Dinh was feeling better and realized fully what had happened, she was incredibly grateful. “I said ‘Oh my god, I’m very, very lucky that God gave somebody that’s very, very nice to find that envelope.’ Every night time I pray. Every time I pray, I remember Jack,” she said with sincerity. It is so touching to know that this story had a happy ending thanks to the kindness of a stranger.
The Scottsdale Police Department connected the two strangers so Dinh could have the chance to say thank you. Davis was thrilled to see her reaction and made it clear that it felt good to do the right thing. After such a thankful reaction, Davis is likely to keep up his good work and would make the same choice again.
Davis was very humble when asked about Dinh’s reaction. “She just reacted very happily,” he said. “That, in itself, is worth everything that was in that envelope and more. Getting someone’s money back to them isn’t always saving their life but it is doing the right thing and that’s what counts.” In this case, $13,000 could absolutely change someone’s life. Davis did the honorable thing by returning the envelope.
A simple accident could have ended with a devastating loss. Davis was really Dinh’s guardian angel that day. Not many people would have done the same thing when faced with such a large sum of money, especially in cash. Hopefully, more people will hear this story and pay the good deed forward. Everyone should aspire to be like Jack Davis.
