Mike D'Onofrio/The Jersey Journal

It's not every day that you find $4,800 on the sidewalk, but it's even more rare for someone to return it to its rightful owner.


But is exactly what Marcario "Mark" Panuil did.

A 20-year veteran at Bergen South Station Post Office in Jersey City, Panuil found $4,800 in crisp $100 bills in a wallet on the sidewalk while he was delivering mail on his daily route on Jan. 22, a day after one of the many snowstorms to pound Jersey City this winter.

Panuil said his first thought when he opened the wallet and saw the wad of cash was "I need to give it back to the owner."

The wallet belonged to Rev. Rudolph Daniels Sr., a retired pastor of Claremont-Lafayette United Presbyterian Church in Jersey City.

Daniels said he had just picked up the large sum from the bank to give to his children as belated Christmas gifts. When he realized his wallet slipped out of the back pocket of his pants as he was on his way to volunteer at a local community center, he didn't think he would ever see that money again.

"I just assumed the money was gone," Daniels recalled.

But Daniels said he held onto a glimmer of hope.

"I still have this endearing feeling about people ... and I just said a prayer," Daniels said.

Daniels' prayers were answered that evening.

Daniels, who himself had worked for years for the postal service, returned home that evening to find a message waiting for him on his home phone from Bergen South Station Post Office. The next day, he walked into the post office and they handed him his wallet

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"It was unbelievable," Daniels recalled when he first laid eyes on the wallet, looked inside and saw the $4,800.

"I was speechless."

Panuil was honored today by Jersey City Postmaster Kerry Wendt, his district manager and his fellow postal employees at Bergen South Station Post Office.

Steven Hernandez, a district manager, said Panuil is "a great inspiration."

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