PITTSBURGH -- A Pittsburgh man who thought he lost his credit cards, driver's license and more than $1,000 in cash during a trip to the beach has renewed faith in people thanks to a little girl.

Michael Chosky kept his personal items close to him after a hotel worker ripped him off on a previous vacation.

"I found that it's safe to leave the money in a Ziplock bag in a zippered pocket of a bathing suit," Chosky said.

But on the day he lost his belongings, his swimsuit pocket had Velcro, not a zipper.

"It was very rough sea that day," Chosky said.

Chosky walked out of the surf and realized his pocket was empty.

"It's like getting hit in the stomach," Chosky said. "It wasn't a great ride home -- alone with your thoughts in the middle of the night."

Little did he know, Rowan Short, 11, of Delaware, found it the baggie hours later about a mile and a half down the beach.

A quick call to information connected Rowan's mother to Chosky's wife.

"Within seconds, I knew what the call was about because just the exclamation of joy from her, I knew that's what it was," Chosky said.

The Short family put the baggie in the mail, which left Chosky with a lasting impression.

"It renews your faith in people; The money was secondary -- $1,000 is $1,000. Just that these people did this was overwhelming," Chosky said.

The Choskys offered a reward to Rowan, but the family declined.

"When we left there, we left with zero, and I said to my wife, 'If anybody ever finds this and is good enough to report returning all of it, we'll give them half.' We told them to take half and they said we can't do that, but they did give her $20 as a reward, and that's OK with us," Chosky said.

Chosky still has not had an opportunity to talk to the 11-year-old girl himself. He said he plans to call her and thank her personally for returning his cash and credit cards.

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