© Screenshot via YouTube/KPRC/Screenshot via YouTube/KPRC Houston plumber Justin Cauley was given a $20,000 reward after he found a trove of cash and checks in a toilet wall at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church last month. The money is thought to be connected to a 2014 burglary at the church, police said.
A plumber who discovered cash and checks hidden in a toilet wall while doing maintenance work at pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston — possibly helping solve a $600,000 burglary at the congregation seven years ago — received a $20,000 reward Tuesday for his find.
The plumber, identified by local media as Justin Cauley, was given a $20,000 gift by Crime Stoppers of Houston for finding about 500 envelopes of cash and checks last month, the nonprofit’s CEO, Rania Mankarious, told The Washington Post.
The reward came less than a week after Cauley called in to a Houston radio morning show to reveal how he found the envelopes while working on a bathroom wall at Lakewood Church, led by Osteen and wife Victoria.
“My heart stopped, needless to say,” Cauley told KPRC in his first on-camera interview. “I had no clue that would come about.”
The gift to Cauley was most of the $25,000 reward offered by Crime Stoppers in 2014 after Lakewood reported the loss of more than $600,000 in a burglary. The $20,000 was initially put forth by Lakewood to help Crime Stoppers assist in the search and was later given as a donation to the nonprofit when the statute of limitations on the reward had expired, Mankarious said.
Even though the statute of limitations had run out, Mankarious told The Post, the nonprofit was compelled to give the gift to Cauley, whose story drew national attention, after the Houston Police Department announced that the cash, checks and money orders found last month in the toilet wall appear to be connected to the 2014 burglary.
“When we heard that Justin the plumber made the discovery and immediately reported to the supervisor and law enforcement, it dawned on me that the unique gift from Lakewood Church should go to him,” Mankarious said. “We were excited to do this for him.”
The church has not said how much money was recovered from the toilet wall.
Cauley did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Jami Schlicher, a spokeswoman for Lakewood Church, confirmed to The Post that the money from its original gift to Crime Stoppers in 2016 “to help solve this case and support them for all they do for the community” was given to Cauley by the nonprofit this week for his find.
“We are appreciative of the plumber and we hope he pays the gift forward,” Schlicher said in a statement.
John Cannon, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, told The Post that the investigation is ongoing. No further details were made public.
Lakewood — a 606,000-square-foot megachurch that attracts tens of thousands of worshipers to Osteen’s weekly services — was rocked in March 2014 when the pastor announced that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been stolen from the church’s safe. The burglary was discovered on a Monday morning. A police spokesman said at the time that $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks were reported stolen after a Lakewood employee noticed the funds missing, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The funds were fully insured, according to a Lakewood statement at the time, and the church was working with its insurance company “to restore the stolen funds to the church.”
“We were heartbroken to learn today that funds were stolen from the church over the weekend,” the church said at the time, according to HuffPost.
The case went cold for seven years before taking an unlikely turn when Cauley showed up to do maintenance work at the church. Last week, he revealed what happened on “The Morning Bull Show” on 100.3 FM. The Houston radio show had invited listeners to share stories about valuable items they had randomly found over the years.
Cauley, who identified himself only by his first name at the time, said he was on a job at the megachurch Nov. 10 when he made the find.
“There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile,” he said. “We went to go remove the toilet, and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall. I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ ”
The plumber told co-host George Lindsey that after making the discovery, he notified a maintenance person at the church and “turned it all in.”
“He has to be one of the most honest people in the world,” Lindsey recently told The Post. “We’re talking about a bathroom with no security cameras. He could have pocketed some money. But this guy reported it immediately.”
The news had some in Houston and on social media calling for Cauley to receive some sort of reward from Lakewood or Crime Stoppers. Over the weekend, the plumber said he was “a little upset” because Osteen allegedly did not reach out or reference Cauley during his services at Lakewood.
“I wanted to hear [Osteen] say, ‘You know, Justin, what you did was right. We understand what you did and what you could have done,’ ” Cauley told KPRC. “I feel like, at this point, I should have heard something.”
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On Tuesday, Mankarious and Crime Stoppers called Cauley with good news: They were rewarding him $20,000. Mankarious said the organization’s 13 executive committee members unanimously voted to give the money to Cauley. Once police confirmed to Crime Stoppers that he was not connected to the burglary, giving the gift to him was a no-brainer, she said.
“We thought it was a positive, wonderful thing we could do for Justin, who is a good Samaritan,” Mankarious said. “I’ve never experienced a case like this before.”
After Crime Stoppers called Cauley on Tuesday, he visited the organization to pick up his gift and expressed his appreciation, Mankarious said.
Cauley told local media that the money was “a bit of a blessing,” thanking Crime Stoppers and Lakewood.
The plumber noted to KPRC that while business has been up and down during the pandemic for him and his young family, “this money is going to help tremendously.” He also said he’s going to donate a portion of the gift to Crime Stoppers and the Houston SPCA, an animal protection organization and shelter.
“Bills are stacking up. I’m just trying to make the best of it,” he said. “And today, that light shined through.”
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