Uber driver finds wallet with $3K inside, hunts down owner and returns it

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - An Uber driver made a startling discovery in the back seat of his car after dropping off a customer in River Grove Monday night: a wallet containing $3,000 cash.

But because Uber clears addresses after people are dropped off, Jose Figueroa was not sure how he was going to return the man’s wallet. So, he had to open it up to try and find some information about where the man lived and that’s when he saw all the $100 bills.

He knew right away he had to get the man’s wallet, with his ID and his green card and his money, back to him.

Because Figueroa lives in River Grove himself, he was able find his way back to the man’s address and after ringing every apartment doorbell, he found the man’s sister.

“The sister opens the door and I show the picture and she opens up and, she sees me like a guardian angel, she smiles, she hugs me, she opens the door and I see her brother sitting down at the table eating dinner,” Figueroa said.

Figueroa said they invited him in for dinner, but he politely declined. He said he knows some people might have just taken the cash and tossed out the money, but because he’s a Christian, he never thought about that, just about returning the wallet to it’s owner.

Volodymyr Kytsknuik might now be the happiest Ukranian in Chicago. He's got a new friend and he's got his wallet back, which is something, even in his broken English, that is easy to understand.

“Yea maybe lucky, very lucky, lucky yea,” said Kytsknuik.

He gave Figueroa $100 as a thank you tip. Figueroa said he tried to refuse the money, but Kytsknuik insisted.

“What I saw last night when they opened the door is worth more than any money value on there,” Figueroa said with a giant smile on his face. He also said he slept very well last night knowing he did the right thing.