Brazilian man gets lost money back after 12-day search
In the city of Ibiraçu in Brazil’s Espírito Santo state, business consultant Pedro Moro returned more than 1,000 Brazilian reals to 24-year-old bricklayer’s assistant Matheus Reginaldo Celestino. It took 12 days to find the owner of the cash, The Rio Times reports.
How the man lost the money
On August 28, 2026, Celestino received payment for his work and had the money in his trouser pocket. He stopped near a street kiosk selling grilled meat in the city center. According to the publication, when the man took out a pack of cigarettes, banknotes fell onto the sidewalk along with it, which he did not notice.
Later, Celestino realized that he had lost the money but, as he told Brazilian media, no longer hoped to get it back. It was payment for a week of work, which he planned to use to support his four-year-old daughter and cover other expenses for her.
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Verifying the owner
Surveillance cameras in central Ibiraçu recorded the sequence of events: Celestino walked past the place where the money later became visible on the ground, and several minutes later Moro picked it up.
The consultant did not hand the cash over to police and did not publish photographs of it. He kept the exact amount, the denominations of the banknotes, and the way they were folded secret in order to verify the account of the person who would come forward to claim the money.
City residents shared the story on social media. Celestino’s friends recognized the description of the situation and put him in touch with Moro. On the morning of September 9, 2026, the men met in the same square where the money had been found, and Moro returned the entire amount to its owner.
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