A few years ago, my daughter and her husband lived in New Orleans. His work had transferred him there and as with any move there was a lot to learn. They had been there only a week, barely long enough to know how to get from Point A to Point B when their car was stolen. The police were called. A report was written but according to the officer there was not much hope of ever recovering their car.
Husband found a ride to and from work each day with a friend and life continued in this new city. A few days later as they were crossing an overpass on their way from work, Husband glanced at the street and homes below. Suddenly he was very excited and started giving his friend directions on where to turn and where to go because he was sure that he saw their car parked on a street below the overpass.
Now, there was nothing unusual about this car. It was an older model grey Ford Taurus and sure enough there was one parked on the street. Walking up to it Husband realized it really was his car. Against all odds he found his stolen car. A call was made to the police that the car was found and within minutes, an officer was there to look around. There was a still carton of cigarettes in the back seat and $20.00 bill still remained above the driver’s sun visor. Also, a man’s wallet laying on the passenger seat. Apparently, it pays to leave your car’s gas tank on empty or nearly empty be it wasn’t that far from their home and the thief had run out of gas.
One would logically be led to believe that the wallet belonged to the car thief and the police would track him down. For Daughter and Husband, they were just happy to get their car back undamaged. All they had to do was fill the gas tank and it was good to go.
Fast forward a few weeks, Daughter was at a gas station, filling up when a man pulled up to the gas pump next to her. As he was taking care of his car, he addressed Daughter, “I see you have a Michigan license plate. How are you liking New Orleans?”
Daughter, trying not to be suspicious of this stranger answered, “So far I don’t like it much. We were barely settled when our car was stolen. But as you can see, we got it back.”
Several seconds passed before the man asked, “Was there a wallet in the car.”
“Yes,” Daughter answered becoming leery now. “Why would you ask that?”
Still friendly and smiling the man explained. “It was my wallet. It had been stolen. The police came to visit me asking why it would be in a stolen car. Fortunately for me, I could prove that I was at work when the car disappeared so finally my wallet was returned. But I sure was nervous there for awhile because I knew they thought I stole that car and I knew I didn’t.”
Who would believe that a car would be stolen, recovered with a wallet and then meet the person who belonged to the also stolen wallet? Yes, it really happened.
Am I The Only One 