The fear and anguish that come with learning you’ve lost something valuable are familiar to most people.
It’s a drawn-out and uncomfortable process to replace such belongings, whether it’s your pocketbook, phone, or even your passport.
One father who had recently moved to the U.S. with his family to pursue a college education lost everything after he forgot to pick up his child’s diaper bag after setting it down to take a picture.
Fortunately, on Christmas Eve, Gabriel Ruiz and Gabriela Jauregui, a couple, stopped to take a picture in the same location in Long Beach’s Naples neighborhood and noticed the bag.
They examined the bag and discovered a wallet while attempting to determine who it belonged to.
Ruiz told CBS Los Angeles, “We saw the wallet. Opened it up and saw a ton of money in there.”
There were several essential cards in the bag, along with $5,000 in cash, passports, and a ton of baby items.
Gabriel and Gabriela, who are both 24 years old and could have used the money, never considered keeping it as they began their search for the owner.
The man, his wife, and their daughter had immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in order for the man to pursue his undergraduate education. It was the only cash the family possessed, and it was used to pay for an apartment and educational expenses.
Looking at the cards, Gabriel and Gabriela noticed that the names were written in Vietnamese without an address or phone number.
The passports have no address and all of the names are in Vietnamese, according to Gabriela. We spent the entire night searching for them on sites like Facebook.
After realizing what he had done, the owner, who wished to remain unnamed, was distraught: “I thought ‘how can I get back to my country? How can I pay my tuition? My rent?’ Because I already have baby,” he said, according to CBS Los Angeles.
who had taken the bag and even came back the following day.
Meanwhile, the pair discovered a hidden compartment in the bag in the early morning hours.
“There was a bunch of papers with all the information we needed. Phone number, a name, an address,” stated Gabriela.
When they were both content, they went to bed and called him the next morning to ask him to describe the bag before going to his house and giving it back to him.
Gabriela congratulates the owner, who is obviously relieved that they were able to find him.
The man said, “All I can say is thank you, thank you. You just saved my life. Can I have a hug please?”
The lengths this couple went to in order to track down the owner merit a medal.