Woman's stolen wallet discovered in vent with 14 others at old Illinois high school 75 years later
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A Missouri woman has been reunited with her stolen wallet 75 years after it went missing when it was discovered -- along with 14 others -- during a renovation at her old high school in a neighboring state.
The pastor of City Hope Church, Seth Baltzell, wrote on Facebook the discovery was made amid demolition work at the old Centralia High School in Centralia, Ill. A stash of 15 wallets from the mid-1940's was found stuffed inside a heating vent.
"While someone took the cash they left behind all the pictures, information and other documents," Baltzell wrote.
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Baltzell, who is moving his church into the school, said the wallets appeared to have been from mostly women and school ID's showed they were from the mid-1940's.
"There are lots of things like pictures of soldiers," he told KSDK.
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After posting the photo and names of people that were discovered inside the vent, Baltzell's Facebook post received over 1,100 shares.
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He was later contacted by the family of 89-year-old Betty June Sissom, who grew up in Centralia and now lives in Chesterfield, Mo.
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"I remember it was red and I remember I lost my wallet...I can't believe this from all these years ago. That's me with a little boy by the name of Jimmy Kane and I had a crush on him," Sissom told the television station. "Oh my goodness, look at the boys' pictures I have. They took all the money, huh?"
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Sissom said even without finding money inside, being able to get her wallet with some photos back was "unbelievable."
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"This is exciting," she told KSDK-TV. "I can't believe after all of these years."