FERGUS – A wallet once thought lost in the Eaton Centre circa 1983, has made it’s way back to its rightful owner, through the magic of social media, and a man from Detroit.
Vanessa Austin, a Fergus resident, says the accessory belonged to her mother. The Austin family immigrated from El Salvador in 1981. Austin said it felt good to get her hands on the wallet, which contained documents detailing the family’s past.
Inside was a Toronto Public Library card, expiry date 1985, Austin’s immigration documents and more.
Austin said she was grateful to a man named Andrew Medley from Detroit, who was working at the mall and tracked it, and Austin down via her LinkedIn, to get the wallet back in the family’s possession.
Misplaced between a duct and a wall, Medley returned the wallet to Austin’s Guelph office.
Canadian Press reports Austin sent Medley a video of her parents seeing the long-lost wallet for the first time again.
Meanwhile, Austin told the Grand at 101 the story, and Medley’s efforts to bring the wallet home, were inspiring.
Claiming she was stunned but elated, Austin says “you never know what life is going to bring you.”
