Boy turns in $8,000 he found on playground

SALEM, Mass. -- A seven-year-old child is being lauded after he turned in $8,000 he found on a playground outside Boston.

The boy, Aiden Wright, says he found the cash Saturday morning at Memorial Park in Salem, reports CBS Boston.

"I ran up the slide and there was this black check book, and I opened it up and found $8,000 in it and brought it to my uncle," the boy told the station.

Aiden and his uncle reportedly turned the money in to police. It was eventually returned to its owner -- contractor Elias Santos. Santos told the station he had the money in his pocket after he was paid and must have left it accidentally as he played with his children at the playground.

Santos, who said he's grateful to the boy, gave him $100 as a reward.

"We go to Sunday school and he's been taught to do the right thing," the child's mother Ellen Wright told the station. "This shows the lessons had been learned and we are so proud."