Howard Kirby enjoys shopping at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Owosso, Michigan. That’s where he bought his most recent couch. And, as they say, one person’s trash is another’s treasure.

When he got it home to his “man cave,” he noticed that the ottoman that came with the couch felt rather uncomfortable. A few weeks after the purchase, his daughter-in-law opened up its cushion to discover the reason – it wasn’t full of traditional stuffing.

Instead, the ottoman cushion contained a box with $43,170 packed inside. The couch cost Kirby $35.

“I still have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming or something,” Kirby told WNEM TV about the mind-boggling find.

The mostly $100 bills were paper-clipped together with notes about what they had been earmarked for – mostly bill payments.

Kirby wisely consulted a lawyer while he was figuring out what to do. He was told he had absolutely no obligation to return the cash or attempt to find who it belonged to. He purchased the item and it and anything inside of it belonged to him.

But Kirby just isn’t that kind of guy. He couldn’t, in good conscience, keep the money.

So he called the store to see if they could track down the person who donated the couch.

It turns out the couch’s original owner, Phillip Fauth, had passed away the previous year but his granddaughter, Kim Fauth-Newberry, had been in possession of the item after that and made the decision to donate it.

Fauth-Newberry and her husband were stunned by the find – they obviously had no idea about the money.

“It’s just crazy,” Fauth-Newberry said, choking up.

They don’t know what possessed Phillip Fauth to stuff cash in an ottoman and never tell anyone about it.

“Why he’s got money in cushions, I don’t know,” Mike Newberry told WNEM.

Nevertheless, they were happy to take the money. And they were roundly criticized by many an Internet commenter for not offering to share it with Kirby (though there’s no evidence he would have taken it – or that they didn’t offer at some point).

“She should have split the money. She didn’t even know about the money!” said one.

Viewers of the news story were dissatisfied with the lack of follow-up on whether or not the family tried to offer Kirby a reward:

“She didn’t just say ‘Thank you!’ and walked away did she? Like they said: he didn’t have to return the money back to them but did because ‘it was the right thing to do.’ On her part, the right thing to do was give some small portion of that money back to him.”

The ReStore held a small event at which Kirby handed the money over to the family.

The owner of the ReStore said Kirby’s honesty was inspiring:

“To me, this is someone who, in spite of what they’re going through, in spite of their own needs, has said, ‘I’m just going to do the right thing'”

Kirby told WNEM that the money certainly would have come in handy, but that he feels good about his decision to return it, now knowing it’s with the rightful owner.

“I’ve heard it done so many other times, and I always thought, what would I do if that ever happened? Now I know and it makes me feel good.”

Be sure to scroll down below to see interviews with everyone involved in this incredible story.

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Source: WNEM TV 5, CNN