Homeless Man Got The Biggest Surprise Of His Life When Pawn Shop Owner Returns His Savings Bonds 40 Years Later

It started when Chris Mathis took over the pawn shop business.

One day, while tidying up and working on the inventory, he discovered savings bonds — never cashed — sitting in the drawers.

He decided to return savings bonds to those people who had pawned them off and had found more than 50 of them.

Chris set out on a selfless mission to return all of the savings bonds to their original owners. While he was successfully able to return many of them, there was one person he just couldn’t track down: a man by the name of Woodrow Wilson Jr, aka Woody.

Mathis had Wilson’s name and a photograph knew he had been homeless and had been arrested for loitering.

Chris Mathis wasn’t about to give up. He started posting ads in the Chicago Sun-Times, asking for help locating the former soldier.

A reporter who saw the ads assembled all the reports and helped to finally track down the elusive Wilson, the Sun-Times reported.

She asked him if he remembered pawning a stack of savings bonds. "Yes! I remember the pawn shop!" Wilson said. Wilson was surprised to learn that his handful of $100 savings bonds were now fully matured and worth more than $3,000.

Mathis hoped the savings bonds, which were pawned back in 1980, could help.

He With just two pairs of pants and a blanket in his backpack, Wilson says the money will be enough to get him off the street for good this winter.

"I thought this was some kind of scam," Woodrow told the Chicago Sun-Times.

"Why would this guy want to help me? This is huge for me. I’m extremely grateful."

"Pawnshop owners aren’t generally known for being sentimental people," Mathis told the Sun-Times.

"I’ve had a few people ask me 'Are you crazy?' But a homeless veteran will be sleeping in a warm bed tonight. I know I did the right thing."

Watch the heartwarming story of Woody and find out what he plans for the money in the video below.