TSA officer turns in envelope with $9,500 in cash

A TSA agent reunited a cash-stuffed envelope with its rightful owner at DFW Airport after it was dropped at a security checkpoint. KXAS's Ray Villeda reports.

By NBCDFW.com

A quick-thinking Transportation Security Administration officer is being credited for helping to reunite a passenger with a costly carry-on item: an envelope filled with $9,500.

The TSA said Carlos Palma dropped the envelope at a checkpoint at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on April 11 without realizing it. He continued on to catch his flight to Iowa.

?I picked it up off the floor and palmed it in my hand so that no one could see it,? said Don Williams, TSA officer.

Williams said he made an announcement, asking passengers if anyone had lost anything but no one responded.

?At that point, I took it to a private screening area, where it was counted and saw it was 95 $100 bills,? he said.

In a phone interview, Palma said he didn't realize he had dropped the money until he was back in Iowa.

The TSA returned the money after Palma's son called and said the money was lost.

Palma said he is proud of the TSA and how it handled the situation.

Williams said it was just a simple childhood lesson: ?always do the right thing, and that way you can live with yourself.?

Palma did not want to explain why he was carrying the cash.

Read the original report on NBCDFW.com.

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