Tyler Opdyke returning $1,500
ELK GROVE — While homeowners usually install home security cameras to help prevent theft and other misdeeds, Melissa Vang got a pleasant surprise at their Elk Grove home recently.
18-year-old Tyler Opdyke was in the neighborhood handing out fliers for his uncle’s business, StrikeZone Pest Control, when he discovered a wallet in the driveway of Vang’s home. It not only held the customary credit cards, but had $1,500 clipped onto it as well.
Opdyke placing wallet under mat
While we often expect people to pocket such findings, Tyler did the positive and right thing. First, he knocked on the door but there was no answer, even though Vang was at home and Tyler heard her girls inside.
So in a moment of improvisation the youth spotted a camera, held up the wallet for the camera to record, then very clearly placed the wallet under the mat at the front door.
With college looming, Opdyke admitted to ABC10 that the money would have helped, but he said, “I’ve been raised in the church all my life and I felt this was not mine.”
The wallet belonged to Vang’s husband, who was unaware of its absence. Opdyke later returned to make sure the wallet was still there, and that is when he met Mrs. Vang.
