The cash Matheus Reginaldo Celestino lost in a Brazilian plaza was money he had worked for. Part of it was meant to support his daughter.
Pedro Moro found the banknotes and began looking for their owner. Reports describe a search lasting 12 days before the money was returned in Ibiraçu, in Brazil's Espírito Santo state, on September 9, 2026.
Featured photograph: Illustrative photograph: a Brazilian twenty-real banknote, not the cash Pedro Moro found.
Photo: Oleg Yunakov, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph reproduced without editorial alteration.
Looking beyond the money on the ground
UOL's reporting identified Celestino as a 24-year-old construction laborer who had been working in Ibiraçu.
Moro found the money while heading toward his car. He documented where and when he found it and waited nearby in case someone came back.
When no owner appeared, he kept searching. He asked people in the area and sought security-camera footage from nearby properties. He did not disclose all the identifying details of what he had found.
Photo: Vinicius, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Photograph reproduced without editorial alteration.
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Making sure the right person received it
The search eventually reached Celestino through social media. But finding a claimant was only one step. Moro checked that the money belonged to him.
Celestino could describe the denominations and the way the banknotes had been arranged. A person at the food stand where he had been also recognized him as the man who had searched for missing money.
Só Notícia Boa's September 10 account reported that Moro returned more than R$1,000. It emphasized what the recovery meant for the worker and the support he needed to provide his daughter.
A search that ended with a handover
Good News Network later recounted the effort, bringing the local story to a wider audience in November.
Photo: Denis Rizzoli, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph reproduced without editorial alteration.
By September 9, the search had reached its goal: the owner was identified, the claim was checked and the cash went back to him.
Finding money took a moment. Returning it required follow-through: asking questions, looking for evidence and continuing until the person who had lost it could be found.