Kansas man reunited with lost wallet after 35 years

About 35 years ago, Gean Brown, Jr. lost his wallet.

This month, a stranger returned it to him.

In 1976 or 1977 — Brown can't recall the exact date —Brown lost his wallet at a job site. He was installing pipes in a Spring Hill, Kansas, home, when the wallet disappeared.

"I knew I had it in my pocket when I went up and, when I came out, it was gone. And I knew I had it in the attic, but couldn't find it. I tore up insulation and still couldn't find it," he said.

He returned to the house at least 10 times to search for the wallet. Eventually, knowing he couldn't justify tearing down the wall to find his wallet, he accepted that he'd never see it again.

Last week, Brown received a phone call from Shawn Wyckoff, the man who now lives in that house. Wyckoff was fiddling with the antenna in the attic when he found the black wallet. When all the numbers in the wallet were disconnected or dead, he searched for Brown online.

"I was going to do whatever I could do to get this wallet back to him," Wyckoff said.

"This guy 36 years later he goes up there and looks down — there it is. Bang. Out in the open. And he was decent enough to look me up and find it. He could have pitched it. I don't know this guy. (But he) gives it back," said Brown.

There was no cash inside the lost wallet. Instead, it contained priceless mementos now reunited with their owner: Brown's original draft card, Vietnam War-era photos of his service in the Navy and a picture of his then-sweetheart-now-wife.

"It's a time capsule," Wyckoff said. "It was like stepping back through and seeing someone's life."

To show his appreciation for the thoughtful return, Brown invited Wyckoff and his wife out for a thank-you dinner.