There are still good people in the world.

(Nov. 19) -- Dave Talley really, really could have used the money. But when the homeless man from Tempe, Ariz., found a backpack full of cash, he knew it wasn't his -- so he returned it.

"I could've done a lot of things with the money," Talley told The Arizona Republic, "but none of them would've been right." 

On Tuesday, Talley, a recovering addict who lives in a Tempe shelter, discovered a backpack filled with $3,300 in cash and no wallet to help identify its rightful owner. 

Talley said he suppressed an urge to keep the money and turned it over to the Tempe Community Action Agency, where he lives.

"There's a lot of things I could have taken care of but the fact of the matter was it was not my money. I didn't earn it," he told KNXV-TV, ABC15.

A flash drive found in the backpack helped police find the owner of the cash, Arizona State University student Bryan Belanger, who had planned on buying a car with the money. 

Belanger said he learned an important lesson. 

"It's just the greatest thing I've ever experienced, I think," he told ABC15. "It really is a lesson to keep your faith in people and character exists no matter what your circumstances are."

Talley's good deed has scored the man an outpouring of generosity -- and 15 minutes of fame -- as word of his honesty spread. People who've heard about his story have given him cash, job leads and even invited him to Thanksgiving dinner with their families.


"When I handed the backpack over I thought that was it, it was a done deal," Talley told KSAZ, Fox10 in Phoenix. "I am just overwhelmed how people have reacted to all this."


Belanger gave Tally a cash reward and plans to volunteer at the Tempe Community Action Agency

Mara Gay