MOORHEAD — A Minnesota woman feared someone had lost their holiday shopping money when she found an envelope stuffed with $2,800 worth of crisp $100 bills in a McDonald’s parking lot in Moorhead.

Erica Clark, 19, of Dilworth said she never had a second thought about trying to find the rightful owner, but called her father for advice. Inside the envelope, along with the money, was a receipt from a Wells Fargo bank but no name. He suggested taking the money to the police.

“All I could think about was, ‘What if someone was going Christmas shopping and all their money was gone,”’ she said.

It turned out the money belonged to a Sabin man who planned to use it to buy a truck. He had stopped at the McDonald’s Tuesday to grab some lunch. He became frantic when he went to pick up the truck and noticed his cash was missing. He returned to the bank hoping he’d forgotten the money there. When he arrived, police and bank staff let him know Clark had returned his money.

The man, who was not identified by police or Clark, told officers he feared the money was gone forever.

“She deserves a lot of credit for her character,” Lt. Tory Jacobson said.

Clark said the man wants to thank her in person and they plan to meet this week. The college student said she doesn’t expect a reward.