Sanitation worker finds wallet in trash, tracks down owner

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — If you’ve ever lost your wallet, you know how much aggravation it can be to notify your credit card companies, get a new drivers license and other ID cards.

But one Southport woman will not have to deal with that, thanks to a good Samaritan.

“We were frantic for six hours, but when he called, it was a great relief,” said Patricia Taylor.

Taylor went to Dosher Memorial Hospital for surgery on November 7.

She says her wallet must have been left behind.

“We didn’t realize that we didn’t have it for six days until I went to make a purchase,” she said.

Just six hours after she realized it was missing, her phone rang.

“He said I am a truck driver for waste industries, and I was at the recycling center this afternoon and I saw a wallet laying on the ground,” Taylor recalled.

Matthew Hennessey found the wallet at the New Hanover County Recycling Center. When he picked it up, everything was still inside.

“I was just actually ready to pull out, and I kicked something, and I looked down and it was a wallet,” said Hennessey.

“I had 73 dollars in cash, plus all my credit cards. And I told him to please use the cash, and he didn’t even do that,” said Taylor.

Hennessey says he would have returned the wallet regardless, but when he saw Taylor’s military ID he refused the reward.

Her husband, retired Colonel Woodrow Taylor, served in the Air Force for 30 years.

Hennessey instead thanked Colonel Taylor for serving our country.

“I try to teach my children to work hard, work strong. And to do everything to the best of your ability, and to work for your own sense of pride,” said Hennessey.

The unlikely return, and newfound connection, has left Taylor feeling extra thankful just in time for thanksgiving.

“It means a lot. It does,” said Taylor.

Taylor received the wallet, along with a sweet letter from the Hennessey family.

She says it’s good to know there are still good Samaritans out there and hopes they can stay in touch in the future.