A Virginia family was driving when they saw a car in front of them swerve to avoid a bag that was in the middle of the street. Emily Schantz was behind the wheel but was unable to avoid the gray canvas bag and ran it over with her truck.

The family got out and noticed another bag about 15 feet away. They assumed the bags were filled with trash and tossed them in the back of their pick-up truck so they could discard them properly.

When they got home, they realized the bags weren't filled with trash. Instead, they found about one million dollars in cash.

"Inside of the bag, there were plastic baggies, and they were addressed with something that said 'cash vault,'" Schantz told WTVR.

Shantz contacted the police because the money wasn't theirs.

"Do the right thing and return it," Schantz said. "Because it didn't belong to us."

Authorities told them the bags belonged to the U.S. Postal Service, and the cash was being delivered to a bank. They praised the family for calling them instead of keeping the money for themselves.

"For someone so honest and willing to give that almost a million dollars back, it's exceptional on their part," said Maj. Scott Moser with the Caroline County Sheriff's Office. "Their two sons were there, so I put the lights on for them, but we are proud, and they represented this county well by being so honest."

Investigators are still trying to determine how the bags ended up in the middle of the street.

Photo: WTVR