HOUSTON — Justin the plumber, the man who discovered cash and checks inside a wall at Lakewood Church, is back on the radio again after his story made national headlines over the weekend.
Last Thursday, Justin had called into our radio partner, 100.3 FM The Bull, and claimed he had discovered hundreds of envelopes filled with cash and checks in a bathroom wall at Lakewood Church while doing renovation work on Nov. 10.
About $600,000 went missing from the church in 2014. Houston police confirm “evidence from the recovered checks suggests this November case is connected to a March 9, 2014 theft report of undisclosed amounts of money at the church.”
On Monday morning, Justin was back on the show. The hosts of “The Morning Bull Show,” who broke the story, said their phone lines have been blowing up ever since news got out about his discovery.
“Christmas is coming right around the corner. We’ve got the baby and all that,” Justin said.
The Bull Morning Show is now trying to get #getjustinpaid trending on social media in hopes of getting the guy some recognition for doing "the right thing.”
Justin explained why he thought he deserved a reward.
"I don't want people to think that I'm trying to get something out of it because it was on holy ground,” Justin said. “I just feel in my heart that I solved at least 90% of that case.”
Justin told the radio show that he has not heard from the church at all about this good deed. He said there was only an email saying that the case had been turned over to HPD.
“I found this and there’s nothing. There’s no thank you. There was nothing,” Justin said.
But Lakewood Church has twice confirmed with KHOU 11 News that members of the church did thank Justin for doing the right thing and alerting church staff of his discovery.
Justin said there was only an email saying that the case had been turned over to HPD.
"I solved the case. I might not have found the people who did it, but maybe there's a better recollection of what happened, you know," Justin said.
Last week, police wouldn't confirm the exact amount Justin found, but they did say some of the checks dated backed to 2014, which was around the time Lakewood Church reported $600,000 stolen from donations.
In spite of a $25,000 reward from Houston Crime Stoppers, the funds were never found, and now Houston Crime Stoppers confirms the statute of limitations has expired.
“I know Crime Stoppers probably isn’t going to do anything about their money because the statute of limitations has been met but maybe the City of Houston or HPD or maybe Lakewood will have some grievance and maybe pay something forward,” said Justin. “You know. I’m not asking for $1 million. I won’t even ask for the $25,000, but something, you know?”
When asked what he would say to Joel Osteen, the Pastor of Lakewood Church, Justin said, “I’m a Christian myself. I feel like maybe if it’s in your heart as well, pay it forward. Something.”
As for listeners of The Bull Morning Show, they seemed to be split on it.
"Listeners are about 50/50 on, ‘hey, he did the right thing. He should walk away happy,’" Lindsey said. "Others are, ‘heck no. He broke a big case. He should get the reward.'"
HPD said the money located has not left the church and the investigation is ongoing. The person who stashed the cash within the walls of the megachurch still has not been publicly identified. A spokesperson for Lakewood Church tells KHOU 11 that the newly found March 2014 checks will not be cashed. KHOU 11 reports from March 2014 indicated an estimated $400,000 were checks and an estimated $200,000 was actual cash. Lakewood Church said in 2014 it filed an insurance claim to cover the lost donations. Today, Lakewood church confirmed that after contacting HPD in November, the church contacted the insurance company and is working with them to settle the matter.