man was working in the attic of a Kansas house when he lost his wallet. He never thought he'd see it again until he got an unexpected phone call.
"My mouth was hanging (open).Thirty-five to 36 years it had been gone, and he went up and found it in the attic," said Gean Brown Jr.
Brown still can't believe his long-lost wallet reappeared after all this time inside a Spring Hill home.
"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.
It was either 1976 or 1977 when Brown said he last saw the wallet. He was at a job site installing some pipes in the attic of the Spring Hill home when the wallet vanished.
(Photo credit Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
"We were working on the south end of the house and I thought right up against the wall I kicked it down in the wall and we searched, but I can't go in there and tear someone's wall out to find a wallet. (I thought) ‘That's it - it's history," said Brown.
Last week, Brown got a call from a man who now lives at the same house. Shawn Wyckoff was upstairs messing with an antenna when he saw the black object. Wyckoff called all the numbers in the wallet but they were either disconnected or dead. He did a quick internet search and found Brown's address in Paola, KS.
"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.
He said there was no money in the wallet, but what was still inside was worth more than cash to him. The contents included his original draft card, old photos from his service in the Navy and a picture of his sweetheart, the same one he's happy to call his wife 40 years later.
KCTV5's Sandra Olivas wasn't able to talk to Wyckoff about his good deed because he was at work, but Brown said what the man did shows the true meaning of kindness.
"I never thought I'd see that wallet again unless the house got wiped down by a tornado. That was a total shock. He could have just pitched in the trash and he didn't. He's a decent human being," he said.
Brown said even though he's not able to give Wyckoff any reward money, he still wants to say thank you to him. He's invited him and his wife out to dinner as a way to show his appreciation.
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