FRESNO, California -- Tens of thousands of dollars in cash was accidentally left at an Applebee's restaurant in Fresno, California -- and an honest server helped to return the money to its rightful owners.
Erika and Bertha Gonzalez walked into the Fresno Police Department -- and found the treasure they figured was gone forever.
A cash counting machine added up the $32,000 the mother and daughter accidentally left in a booth at Applebee's.
"I think she took it out when she took out her wallet to pay -- and she didn't put it back in her bag," Erika Gonzalez said.
The two made several stops last Wednesday, December 16th -- including a bank. They didn't originally plan on carrying the cash all day.
"We were going to deposit it to the safe box and they told us they didn't have any available," Gonzalez said.
On Wednesday night, they realized the money was missing -- and they felt sick about it.
The $32,000 in cash was savings from the family's business, including rental properties and a Bay Area restaurant.
Sammy Ashworth is the Fresno Police Department detective who first learned about the large sum of money found at the Applebee's restaurant. Then he got a phone call from the family.
"They described the bag that it was in and the denominations and they determined that yeah, it was their money. It was legally obtained and they were just an average working family that had made a mistake," Ashworth said.
The server who waited on the family and found the money didn't want to talk about his good deed.
Applebee's managers say they're not sure he'll accept any reward from the company or the Gonzalez family.
"He made it very clear that he did it because it was the right thing to do -- not that he wanted anything in return," Carrie Hellyer, Applebee's area director said.
There are no surveillance cameras in the area where the family was seated.
Applebee's officials say that's all the more reason this employee's integrity is remarkable.
"That's a lot of money. That's more than a year's salary for many of our employees -- and to have the knee-jerk reaction immediately to be -- 'let's find a way to get this back to who it belongs to?' I'm very fortunate," Hellyer said.
The Gonzalez family plans to thank the server and police for helping them get that money back.
"I am so glad they found it. I really appreciate it," Ashworth said. "I told them their next stop had better be the bank. Or at least somewhere safe where that money can be stored."
The Gonzalez family hopes the server will accept at least a little something as a reward for doing the right thing.
Meanwhile, the family vacation to Puerta Vallarta and Guadalajara is now back on.