TORONTO -- An Ontario teenager is being praised for her honesty after she turned over about $30,000 in cash and cheques that she found in a parking lot.
Kylie McDonald, 17, said she noticed a package on the ground in a Milton, Ont. plaza on Saturday.
"It was a a mesh bag, and in the mesh bag there were a bunch of white plastic envelopes," McDonald said in an interview with CTV News Toronto. She said there was an amount written on each envelope, and in total, the figures added up to about $30,000.
"The first thing I thought of was 'wow, this is like a movie scene,' where you walk out and see that much money in one spot at the same time," McDonald said, adding that she had never held that much money before.
McDonald immediately called her grandmother, who picked her up from the plaza and drove her to the local police station.
Labels on the envelopes indicated that the money belonged to a nearby dental office.
Police quickly tracked the office down and the money was returned to its rightful and "grateful" owner.
"It's just good to look out for others in the community, and what's not yours should be returned to the rightful owner," Halton Regional Police Constable Travis White said. "She definitely did a good thing. At 17 years old it's shocking to see."
On Sunday, the owner of the dental office, who asked not to be identified, met with McDonald and rewarded her with a cheque for $500. The Grade 12 student said she will be using the money to buy a computer that she had been saving up for.
