Boston Homeless Man Turns in Lost Backpack Stuffed With $42K

A homeless man in Boston turned in a lost backpack containing nearly $42,000 in checks and cash over the weekend, officials confirmed.

The man, whom Boston police did not identify, approached officers outside a TJ Maxx store in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester around 6 p.m. Saturday with a black backpack. The man told authorities he found the bag, which contained a passport and a large sum of money, in front of the store.

Inside the backpack, police found $2,400 cash and $39,500 in American Express travelers' checks. The bag also contained passports and "various personal papers," according to a statement from the Boston Police Department.

Just an hour later, around 7 p.m., Saturday, an employee from a Best Buy store near the TJ Maxx store where the backpack was found, contacted police to report a male customer who said he had lost a backpack containing, "a large sum of money."

After matching the name and photo on the Republic of China passport found in the backpack to the Best Buy customer who reported his backpack missing, Boston police returned the bag and money to the man, authorities said.

A spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department declined to offer any additional details when reached today by ABCNews.com but said the department may hold a press conference later on today in regards to the case.