Wallet returned after 30 years ~ Great Story 
Robert McArtor called it a ''phenomenon.'' His wife, Catherine, called it divine intervention.
McArtor's wallet was stolen nearly 30 years ago while he was working in Colorado. Last week, it was returned it to him after a contractor discovered it in the wall of a building while installing windows.
The dark leather wallet was full of old family photographs, $7 cash and a thick stack of credit cards and business cards. The people who found it also found a note inside that led them to the McArtors.
The couple's daughter, Beverly Kassis, wrote the note when she was about 6 years old.
''I love you mother and father,'' the note said. ''You are good pairint's and as I said I love you, Love Beverly.''
The simple message propelled the wallet's finders on a mission to find the rightful owners. By entering the name ''Beverly'' and ''McArtor'' into an Internet search site, they were able to track them down.
''It must be an extraordinary person that would go to this length to track us down,'' said Robert McArtor, 71. ''Only in this computerized day and age could they have a way to track us down. If the wallet was found in 1975, when I lost it, they probably wouldn't have found us.''
Employees of Bison Designs in Longmont, Colo., which manufactures belts, key chains and bottle openers, found the wallet. Company owner Brian Kelleghan said he had purchased a building and was having new windows installed when a contractor pulled some insulation out of the wall. Out fell the wallet.
''It was crammed full of pictures from what looked like multiple generations,'' Kelleghan said. ''It was obviously a gem and I could tell the man who owned it was a family man.''
Kelleghan took the wallet to his office and showed it to several employees. Colleen Kelly, who manages the company's new accounts and bill collections, took an interest in finding the owner of the wallet. She couldn't find a Robert McArtor online but came up with another plan.
''I had the note and just typed in the daughter's first and last name and found her on a college alumni Web site,'' Kelly said. ''It's scary what you can find on the Internet.''
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Robert McArtor called it a ''phenomenon.'' His wife, Catherine, called it divine intervention.
McArtor's wallet was stolen nearly 30 years ago while he was working in Colorado. Last week, it was returned it to him after a contractor discovered it in the wall of a building while installing windows.
The dark leather wallet was full of old family photographs, $7 cash and a thick stack of credit cards and business cards. The people who found it also found a note inside that led them to the McArtors.
The couple's daughter, Beverly Kassis, wrote the note when she was about 6 years old.
''I love you mother and father,'' the note said. ''You are good pairint's and as I said I love you, Love Beverly.''
The simple message propelled the wallet's finders on a mission to find the rightful owners. By entering the name ''Beverly'' and ''McArtor'' into an Internet search site, they were able to track them down.
''It must be an extraordinary person that would go to this length to track us down,'' said Robert McArtor, 71. ''Only in this computerized day and age could they have a way to track us down. If the wallet was found in 1975, when I lost it, they probably wouldn't have found us.''
Employees of Bison Designs in Longmont, Colo., which manufactures belts, key chains and bottle openers, found the wallet. Company owner Brian Kelleghan said he had purchased a building and was having new windows installed when a contractor pulled some insulation out of the wall. Out fell the wallet.
''It was crammed full of pictures from what looked like multiple generations,'' Kelleghan said. ''It was obviously a gem and I could tell the man who owned it was a family man.''
Kelleghan took the wallet to his office and showed it to several employees. Colleen Kelly, who manages the company's new accounts and bill collections, took an interest in finding the owner of the wallet. She couldn't find a Robert McArtor online but came up with another plan.
''I had the note and just typed in the daughter's first and last name and found her on a college alumni Web site,'' Kelly said. ''It's scary what you can find on the Internet.''
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