Lost wallet found, but $100 bill missing

This is a Good Samaritan story with a very happy ending with a few very weird twists.

Saturday morning, I drop my wallet by mistake at a local shop, in their parking lot. Ten minutes later I realize I must have dropped it at the store. I go home and cancel my credit cards.

I called the store and ask if they have video of the parking lot. Luckily they did have a parking lot camera and have video of a man picking up the wallet who drove off. I contact the Mansfield Police who stop by 10 minutes later and reviews the video with the store managers.

There's about $150 in cash, my drivers license, my business cards and a couple credit cards. The Officer says it's going to take a few hours to look into this as they have his name, a NJ plate but an out of state address.

The very kind officer calls 3 hours later and says he contacted the gentleman who says he dropped it off at the Allamuchy Post Office on his way home.

Mind you, I would think most people would bring it into the store office for Lost and Found, or call me since my license and phone number were in the wallet.

So, all weekend I'm wondering if the man really dropped it at the PO.

I go to the PO this morning and the wallet is there but only $20 billed left in the wallet. I'm thinking the man helped himself to a finders fee.

I'm chalking it up to life lesson and be more careful with my wallet.

I get home and the Mansfield Police call and say there is an envelope back at the PO with the cash in it!!

Back to the PO I go and the man not only put the cash in an envelope but also painted a small picture ~8" x 10" of two men greeting each other. The cash is all there, but the $100 bill is missing but there's 5-$20's there instead. So weird!

So, ....thank goodness there are still great people in the world. Thanks to the gentleman who found and returned the wallet. The painting is a wonderful touch.

The Mansfield Police were just great. The manager at the store was also very helpful during a busy day and the workers at the PO were very nice.

With all the craziness these days, I had to share this story just to prove there are plenty of people who are good hard working and honest citizens.

Thanks

Bob A

Bob Amarant ✉
Jul '20

Yes, very weird indeed - Glad it all worked out for ya!
Question? How did the Mansfield Police get your name & number or know to reach out to You...?
My opinion.... You were going to be $130 poorer until the finder discovered there was a camera in that parking lot! You should ask Keith at the PO if your wallet was found in their deposit box as he may not have even returned that until he was contacted by the Police - he just did a quick drop off after getting busted.... so, call it a "forced" honesty... Still - All ended well! Kudos.

CommonSense ✉
Jul '20

What a good story....Odd, but awesome. Glad you have your wallet back.
That was a weird story, but glad you told it. Very nice!!

DogDayAfternoon
Jul '20

This should be in the news of the weird thread. LOL

Crazy, but neat story. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you got your cash back.

Calico696 ✉
Jul '20

”His conscious caught up to him. Couldn’t live with it.” — I suspect (pun intended) the call from the Police Officer had more to do with him returning the money than his conscious! Hopefully he learned to do the right thing from the start.

What a surprise
Jul '20