The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I found a wallet this weekend, because her phone number was not in her wallet and the number I got from a web search was old, it was quite the ordeal to get it back to her.  Eventually I located her but I doubt many people would put in my level of effort.

I have business cards in my wallet with my phone and e-mail, so bases are covered.  ;D

I'm curious to hear the story of tracking her down.

Saturday I found a women’s wallet.  I go into the nearest business and ask if anyone has come in looking for a lost wallet.  They say no, I offer to leave my phone number in case a woman comes looking for it, they don’t take my number.  I then went to the business next door, they too didn't take my number but insisted that I leave the wallet with them.

I then go thru her wallet looking for any contact info, not finding any. I do a search on her name and a webpage gives me 2 phone numbers for her – cell and landline.  I call the cell which rings 3-4 times and then disconnects.  I send that number a text message.  I then call the landline which tells me that the user has not set up their voicemail box.

I call the police and tell them I found a wallet and that I want to leave my number in case she calls looking for it.  They demand I turn in the wallet, I tell them I am not going to do that but to give her my number if she calls. 

Not hearing anything on Sunday I go back to the same page that gave me her number and see that they list four email addresses for her.  I sent an email to the four addresses. 

Monday morning, I did a google search of her again and this time scrolled down to the second page of results that included her wedding announcement.  I googled her husband's name.  I call his phone number, leave him a voicemail and then text him the question, “Did your wife lose her wallet on Saturday? If so, have her call me.”   He called me back only a few seconds later and yes his ex-wife had lost her wallet.  A few minutes later she texted me and then she came and got her wallet. 

She was just about to drive to the DMV to get a new license when he called her.  We chatted for a bit.  She had gone to both the businesses and they remembered that there was a guy asking about a found wallet, but of course they didn’t have my number.  She also called the police who told her that someone had called about the wallet but had not turned it in.  So she knew someone had it but just didn’t know who or how to contact them.   The numbers I had for her were old numbers.

So I did my good deed for the day.   

The term "demand" there sounds kind of fishy. I've never heard of cops being "demand-y" when discussing a non-crime...with a non-criminal doing a good deed.  I'd be interested in what verbiage they used that you determined to be demanding. Was the officer wearing his body-cam at the time?   ;)


So, if you had actually turned it in to law enforcement the first time (excuse me, "surrendered it to the demanding government representative,") she would have gotten her wallet a little bit sooner...

But ok, sure...props for doing a good deed.

Demand is understating it.  The dispatcher actually said that I was reacquired by law to turn it in and my refusal was a crime.  Which I know is total bullshit.  Yes, in this case had I turned it into the police she may have gotten it sooner, by quite possibly without the cash.   

"Quite possibly without the cash?"

Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick...you really are a hardcore cynic. Those are law enforcement officials that you are blithely casting aspersions on. To be fair, I'm not familiar with your particular neighborhood...are police there infamous for their petty cash corruption? Or possibly for their rudeness to the general public?  Inquiring minds kinda-semi-maybe wanna know.

Glad to hear the OP did the right thing.

Why didn’t you leave it with one of the businesses?

My wife apparently put hers down in BJs and left it. Someone found it and put it in a public mail box.  We had an old classmate from the post office call us and tell us they had it before we even knew it was missing. She told us they are constantly returning items placed in there. While there was no money her ID and credit cards were still there. I didn't even know this was thing. I know police can search you and immediately pull up known associates so I wonder if the post office has connections to the DMV records.

As one is Fed and the other is state I doubt the post office has access to DMV records.  But there is a ton of interagency cooperation between FBI and post office.