HOUSTON (KPRC) – The plumber who found a large sum of money hidden inside the wall of a Houston megachurch said he should get a reward.

The man, who wants to remain anonymous, found hundreds of envelopes of cash and checks that could be connected to a 2014 theft at the church.

“I didn’t solve their case, but I solved very key important clues as to what could or may have happened there,” said the plumber who found the stash at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church.

Houston police said the discovery could be linked to the 2014 case, in which someone stole $600,000 from the church.

At the time of the theft, Crime Stoppers offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. No arrests have so far been made in the 2014 case.

Because of the expired statute of limitations on this particular felony theft case, the man will not get any money from Crime Stoppers, said Nichole Christoph, deputy director of Crime Stoppers of Houston.

“That doesn’t preclude Lakewood from giving him a reward or a combination from HPD congratulating him on doing the right thing, but unfortunately Crime Stoppers is out of the picture at that point,” Christoph said.

If the plumber had not fixed the loose toilet at the church, the money would still be in the wall.

Houston police said the investigation is ongoing.

“I feel like I should get something,” the plumber said. “I feel like some type of reward should get offered to me.”

Houston police said the recovered checks have dates connecting them to the March 2014 theft.

At that time, it was reported $200,000 in cash and about $400,000 in checks had been stolen from a church safe.

Written by KPRC staff