South Brunswick Boys Find, Return Backpack With $700

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Two South Brunswick boys were commended in late May for finding and returning a backpack that had $700 cash and someone's passport in it.

The incident happened last year, on May 21, 2017: Sameer Sheth, 12, found a backpack on the ground in the parking lot of a condo complex in Dayton, on the outskirts of Quincy Circle.

He told his mom, Kshama, and they brought the backpack over to his friend Zion's house. Zion and Sameer are neighbors and very good friends, their mothers say. Zion, 7, and his mom were nervous to look through it, and they got even more so when they opened it and found an inhaler inside.

"I thought, Wow, someone might really be needing this," said Zion's mom, Isatu. Zion suggested they call 911 to report the backpack missing and a South Brunswick police officer showed up at their home.

He walked around outside with the backpack for a few minutes and came back moments later.

"'Did you guys know there is $700 in this backpack?,' he asked," Isatu recalled. "My son and I said no, we had no idea."

It turned out the backpack belonged to a neighbor's family members who were visiting from another country, and they were desperate to get it back. The police reconnected them with the backpack.

Sameer, a student at Crossroads South, and Zion, a student at Indian Fields, were commended last month by the South Brunswick police department with the Citizen's Appreciation Award, given annually to a civilian for outstanding actions. Those are the boys pictured with Police Chief Raymond Hayducka.