Stranger returns lost wallet with $40 extra inside

[Demovictory9]

https://abc13.com/society/stranger-returns-lost-wallet-with-$40-extra-inside/4755628/

BRANDON, South Dakota -- We all know that feeling of panic and terror that washes over us when we realize that we lost our wallet. Well, imagine getting it back and looking inside to find that not only is your money there, but there is a little extra.

That's exactly what happened to Hunter Shamatt, after he lost his wallet on a flight to Las Vegas for his sister's wedding.

"I noticed that I was missing my wallet, which had $60 cash and a check for about $400 in it," Shamatt told KSFY.

Hunter never expected to see his wallet again, but a week later, he received a package in the mail with his wallet and a letter.

"Hunter, found this on the Frontier flight from Omaha to Denver -- row 12 seat F, wedged between the seat and the wall," the stranger who returned the wallet wrote. "Thought you might want it back."

But there was something else to help sweeten the surprise.


"I rounded your cash up to an even $100 so you could celebrate having your wallet back. Have fun."

[SWBTATTReg]

1. This is a WOW moment, more of the true human nature in all of us! I saw this on TV this ...

am and its a nice piece of news instead of the drumbeat of rump's idiotic rants and whining. Thanks for posting.

[a kennedy]

2. Love to hear stories like this......

or the Santa that pays for everyone’s lay away bills.

[at140]

3. That was so nice of that person to return wallet + extra cash

I lost my wallet at a car wash, realized I had lost it, drove back within 20 minutes,
and it was gone. Luckily I did not have much cash, but it was a big hassle to get
new drivers license and credit cards.

Some years later I lost my wallet at a golf course in Downers Grove, IL.
Next day I called the golf course to check, and sure enough some golfer
playing behind my foursome had turned it in at the golf pro-shop. All
the cash was untouched! Just goes to show how amazing golfers are.

I have played with at least 1000 strangers at Chicago's public golf courses
and 99% were nice and fun to play with.

[MiniMe]

4. I have returned wallets and purses and not touched the money in it

But I've never thought about adding to the amount in the wallet

[irisblue]

5. Blessings on that kind stranger!

[Stonepounder]

6. Many, many years ago when I was attending Ohio State

one of my part time jobs was driving a Taxicab. Back then credit cards were not ubiquitous the way they are now, so almost all of my income was in cash. On Friday of each week, I would take my week's income, in a plain #10 envelope, to the bank and deposit it. One Friday, on my way to the bank, I stopped and had lunch with a friend at a restaurant. Imagine my horror when I got to the bank and discovered that I had lost the envelope.

In a panic I started retracing my steps and figured that I must have left it at the restaurant. Now, imagine, a plain white envelope full of cash with no identification of any kind on it. I rushed back to the restaurant and asked if they had found an envelope full of cash. I was dumbstruck when the cashier told me that they figured that someone would be back pretty quick for it and handed me my envelope!

There are way more good and honest folks than we realize. The news tells us about the bad ones, we rarely hear about the really good and decent folks.

Thanks for the post!

[yonder]

16. That's reminscent of a storyline in an

old Jimmy Stewart movie that will be played more than once in the coming weeks.

on edit: with the exception that in the movie, Mr. Potter made sure it wasn't returned.

[Moral Compass]

7. People are better than we think they are...

I’ve lost my wallet 7 times in my life. 6 of those times I got my wallet back with everything in it. That other time, well, the cashier at Giant Foods behind the doughnut counter apparently needed it more than I did. I let it go when I could have caused her to lose her job.

I try to pay it forward every day.

[CloudWatcher]

19. Donuts are evil incarnate

Not very surprised the clerk behind the donut counter did you wrong. The corrupting force there must be irresistible!

And yeah, paying forward is the best

[PatSeg]

8. What a great story!

[sandensea]

9. Lucky duck!

I once dropped my wallet in a cinema back in '07.

The staff recovered it shortly - minus the $40 inside.

C'est la vie.

[Demovictory9]

13. Balance of the universe. Your $40 to guy in this story

[sandensea]

15. Well said.

This was in West L.A. - an expensive place to live in, as you know.

I remember thinking that, while I'm certainly not made of money, the cinema employee who took it probably needed it more than I.

Who knows though. It may have been a film producer.

[MoonchildCA]

26. Are you sure you dropped your wallet?

It may be that you were pick-pocketed and the wallet discarded. That happened to me at a concert, and the venue returned my wallet.

[sandensea]

32. Could be, could be.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Something similar happened to me in Barcelona some years back. Actually, it was worse: While I was parking my rental, a street urchin opened one of the doors (foolishly unlocked) and made off with my backpack. Very stealthy.

While I was at the neighborhood precinct reporting the incident, one of the officers walked in to tell me the backpack had been emptied and left on a nearby stoop. The homeowner kindly reported it.

It was a nice Argentine leather backpack, so I was grateful.

The local police, who are very cordial, informed me the city has numerous gangs of street children - and some of them even work with their adult relatives. The police occasionally nab them - only to be forced to let them back out due to their being underage.

Proof that one can be a little too liberal when it comes to crime and punishment.

Oh, well.

[Iggo]

10. Whoever returned that wallet is walking around with a big fat smile on.

[onethatcares]

33. and a good feeling in their heart

[malaise]

11. Lovely

Rec

[LuckyLib]

12. I found a cell phone in an airport restroom.

Called the favorites contact labeled “hubby” to find they were an hour down the road. Got their address and mailed it to them. They were so thankful — I told them to pay it forward.

Yet another reason to not have an entry code on your phone.

[MicaelS]

34. Put a message on your lock screen.

I found a phone at the bus station. It said "if you find this phone, call George at XXX-XXX-XXXX."

I did, and the man said it was his wife's phone. She came to pick it up and gave me $5.

[kimbutgar]

14. I got off a plane in Kauai and was pretty wasted from drinking mai tais

The flight was turbulent and I partied with a young college student and my ex. Our plane had been delayed And I went to call the car rental agency to make sure I still had my reservation. And by the phone was a wallet stuffed with cash. Without thinking I picked it up and took it to the gate/luggage agent and gave him the wallet. I found my ex and told him about finding the wallet. The jerk got mad at me that I didn’t keep the wallet with the money. But I was not raised that way. Anyway at the end of that same vacation the we had a late night flight home and spent some time in a park by the beach, the ex was laying down by a tree and took a nap. We then left and went to airport. When we got there my ex discovered his wallet was missing. We drove back to the park and there by the tree was his wallet untouched. I told him it was karma we found his wallet. But he still insisted I was dumb to not have kept that wallet full of cash. That’s why he is my ex and when I divorced him in 1985 I never looked back.

[yonder]

17. I've lost mine three times - each time involving alcohol.

Lots of alcohol.

Lesson learned?

mostly

[LisaL]

18. Mine got stolen. Nobody returned it, and they bought a lot of crap using my credit card.

[catbyte]

20. Yeah, I hear ya. Mine was stolen; a maintenance worker found it wedged behind a coke

machine in our break room about six months after it was stolen. No cash, of course, and I had long canceled my cards. However, I was happy to get all the pictures and stuff back that I'd stashed in there--plus my driver's license, which was the best picture of me ever taken by the Secretary of State. 🤨😐

[roamer65]

21. I'd actually send the $40 back and send a small gift certificate along with it.

Old belief that honest finders who return valuables intact should be the ones rewarded.

[JI7]

23. or give to charity in the name of the person who returned the wallet

[Pacifist Patriot]

22. I needed to see this.

I accidentally left my wallet and an iPod Touch in a Target bathroom on my 50th birthday (two weeks ago today). I was suffering with food poisoning or a stomach bug, never figured out which but it hit fast and hard. We realized what happened pretty quickly, but they were already gone and no one turned them in. Worst birthday ever. If a good Samaritan found them, they haven't exactly rushed to return it and my contact info was in it. 😔

[JI7]

24. I bet that person tips well

[ck4829]

25. K&R. It's just money, don't give up your dignity or morality for it.

[progree]

27. Nice, but after a week, he probably did all the work to replace all the cards, drivers license etc

health insurance cards (in Medicare some of us have 3 f'ing cards -- The basic Medicare Card, Medicare Supplement card, drug plan card), ... library card, bus pass, etc. ... credit and debit cards -- one should immediately call the credit card companies and the debit card(s) banks of course who will immediately cancel the cards and send new ones with new account numbers (they don't give you an option to wait around a week or two hoping the lost wallet shows up in the mail).

If I found a wallet, I'd call the person who lost it right away, so they don't have to do all that work -- it took me maybe 12 hours to get all that replaced when I lost my cards a couple of years ago. And it was my "lean" set of about 8 essential cards that I take for quick short trips, jogging, etc. -- not the whole fistful set I take on regular shopping trips.

[KWR65]

28. I lost my brand new phone on regional multi-county bus and someone turned it in

You never know if a nice guy or gal is going to find your lost property then return it. Years ago I lost my Driver's license and a ATM bank card. The person that found those mailed it to me anonymously.

[MFGsunny]

29. K & R

[Stuart G]

30. Population of U.S.A. ... 326,766,748... percent of world's population 4.28%

That is the reason that sometimes you get the wallet back, and sometimes you don't. We have all kinds of people here. If you can think of them, that type is probably here. From the very best to the very worst and in between. Some will return the wallet with the money and some will keep the money and throw the wallet away. Think of an outcome of this story, and that outcome exists somewhere in the U.S.A.

[kag]

31. I once borrowed a pair of ski pants from a friend.

This was back when I was quite poor, credit cards maxed out, lived from paycheck to paycheck. My friend was wealthy; she used to forget to deposit her paycheck, and only had a job to keep her from being bored. Anyway, I found $35 in the pants pocket. Back then $35 was a fortune to me. When I returned it to her she said, "Oh, you should have kept it. I never would have missed it!"

Conversely, I once lost my purse in a library. When I went to the front desk to see if it had been turned in, it had. However, they had taken everything that even *seemed* valuable. There was less than five dollars in the wallet, but they took it and all of the change. They took a necklace that had zero monetary value, but was quite valuable to me sentimentally. Oddly, they didn't take my license, atm card, credit card (which was completely maxed out at the time), or anything like that.

I was grateful that my purse had been turned in. I hope whoever took what was in it was just some poor student who needed the five bucks more than I did. I just wish they had left me my necklace.