Minnesota man loses hunting jacket with $1,700 inside, gets it all back four years later

In the fall of 2009, Owen Schipnewski lost his hunting jacket. Four years later, he got it back.

Schipnewski was goose hunting with his then 12-year-old son in western Minnesota when he took off his jacket and tossed it into the back of his pickup truck.

He didn't notice that it blew out of the truck and onto the road. When he arrived home, he realized it was gone. He tried to backtrack, but it was too late. The coat was nowhere to be found.

Perhaps most disheartening was that his wallet was stashed in one of its pockets, carrying his driver's license, credit cards and $1,700 cash.

Earlier this month, a local farmer named Trent Jorgenson called Schipnewski: he had Schipnewski's jacket.

Shortly after Schipnewski lost his jacket, Jorgenson found it on the side of the highway. He hung it in his garage, not giving it much thought.

It wasn't until his buddies invited him to go duck hunting a few weeks ago that he decided to use it.

Before throwing the jacket in the wash, he rummaged through the jacket's pockets. He found a wallet, with Schipnewski's ID and cash still inside.

Jorgenson immediately decided to return the jacket.

"Everything was in that jacket," a thrilled Schipnewski told CBS Minnesota.

Schipnewski drove to Jorgenson's farm to pick up the jacket and thank him personally. He also offered him a large cash reward, but Jorgenson refused it.

Despite Jorgenson's protests, Schipnewski left him enough cash to buy his own hunting jacket.

"There are a lot of good people in this world, that's for sure," said Schipnewski. "Four years later, I get the jacket back and hopefully a new friend."

"I felt good about it," Jorgenson told the West Central Tribune of the opportunity to return the jacket and wallet.

"Made my day probably as much as his."