A Minnesota mechanic found a wallet hidden in a car engine for over a decade and tracked down the owner to return it.
Most of us have gone through that frantic moment when we lost our wallet that contains credit cards, government IDs and other important belongings. We search everywhere in panic and try everything we can to find it.
As days pass, we begin to lose hope. But how amazing would it be if a stranger returned that lost wallet after 11 long years?
That’s exactly what happened to Richard Guilford, thanks to an honest mechanic named Chad Volk.
The Unexpected Discovery
Chad Volk owns an auto repair shop in Lake Crystal, Minnesota. He was fixing the cooling fans on a 2015 Ford Edge when he pulled out the air box. Something was blocking it from going back in place.
“That’s where the wallet was,” Chad said, pointing beneath the air box. A leather wallet sat right on top of the car’s transmission.
Chad opened the wallet and found a Ford Motor Company employee ID. He decided to track down the owner on Facebook.
When he found Richard Guilford, he sent him a message asking, “Is this your wallet?”
“The first thing I said was, ‘Did you find that in a car?'” Richard remembered.
How the Wallet Got Lost
Richard Guilford lost that wallet eleven years ago while working overnight at a Ford plant in Michigan. He made an unusual choice that day to wear sweatpants to work instead of his regular clothes.
His wallet sat in his shirt pocket as he leaned over the same Ford Edge to fix electrical problems.
The wallet slipped out without him knowing.
Around 2 a.m., Richard turned to his coworker. “I’m like, ‘Schmitty, I lost my wallet.'”
Richard and several other workers searched everywhere. “There was 2,000 cars out there and we couldn’t find it,” Richard said.
The Wallet’s 11-Year Journey
The wallet stayed hidden in that Ford Edge as it traveled from Michigan to an Arizona dealership. Then it went to Lake Crystal, Minnesota.
After 150,000 miles, the car finally ended up at Chad’s repair shop.
The Honest Return
Chad walked three doors down to the post office and mailed the wallet to Richard’s home in Michigan.
Every single dollar was still there. “There’s nothing wrong with the money at all,” Richard said, holding up the $15 in cash. “It’s well traveled currency.”
The wallet also had old lottery tickets and something even better. Richard found $250 in Cabela’s gift cards he had bought 11 years ago for Christmas presents for his kids. He called Cabela’s and learned the cards were still good.
When Richard and Chad talked face to face over video call, Richard was amazed. “I would have never, ever, figured in a million years that would still be there,” he told Chad.
Chad joked back, “I’m going to have to start digging through cars more often, I guess, in the engine bays, and see if I can find something.”
Chad could have kept the money and gift cards. Nobody would have known. But he chose to do the right thing. “Just the way I was raised,” Chad explained.
This story warms our hearts because it shows us that honest people still exist. God put that wallet in the hands of exactly the right person. Richard said it best: “The right guy found it, absolutely.”
WATCH: Mechanic Discovers Wallet Missing for 11 Years Inside Car Engine
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