Colorado Agent was who found the $10k in Airport and returned it...

by Amanda Okker

As Mitch Gilbert stood in the security line at the Las Vegas airport, he spotted two envelopes that he would later discover held $10,000 cash. 
 

After a two-week search for the rightful owner, the Broker Associate with RE/MAX Masters in Greenwood Village, Colo., deposited the money into a grateful El Paso man's bank account right before Christmas and sparked an international media frenzy. 

Read all the headlines on Google News. A Dec. 26 Associated Press story has been tweeted more than 200 times and recommended by more than 1,000 readers.

"The story's gone completely viral," says Gilbert, whose story first ran on Denver's NBC newscast Christmas Day after another bank customer called the news station. Since then the story has grabbed the attention of CNN, FOX, MSNBC and many other news outlets. Gilbert says he received Facebook messages from people who saw the story in Germany and the United Kingdom. 

"I think there's so much attention because you rarely hear the story of a large sum of money being returned like this," Gilbert says. "Most people would hope to do the right thing, but until it's in your hands you don't know."

Although he wasn't looking for the media attention, the Hall of Fame member is happy to know that his colleagues and clients will see they're working with a stand-up guy. 

Gilbert says he put so much effort into finding the money's rightful owner, because he felt sick to his stomach whenever he thought about being on the opposite end of the story. Immediately upon returning to Denver and discovering just how much money was lost, Gilbert contacted the Las Vegas airport to see if anyone had reported losing it.

"I didn't open the envelopes at the time, but I assumed they contained money – I just never imagined it was so much," Gilbert says. "At first, the airport refused to help me, but my persistence paid off. When I finally was on the phone with the gentleman in El Paso, it felt so good to hear the gratitude in his voice and to reassure him that every penny of his $10,000 was safe."