Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505220065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Short
He took out his wallet, bulging with $683 in cash for the trip, and put it on top of his van. Once he secured the trailer, he drove off about 5 p.m. Thursday. His wallet fell onto King Street in Hampton.
About an hour later, Matthew Simmons drove by on his way home from work at Langley Air Force Base. Simmons said he is one those people who keeps an eye on the ground.
``Washers, nuts, bolts - I pick up things. They might come in handy,'' said Simmons, 50, who retired from the Air Force 10 years ago and now holds a civilian job at the base.
He spotted the wallet, stopped his car and picked it up.
Meanwhile, Rieger became frantic when he realized he had lost the wallet. Stationed at Langley until a recent discharge from the service, Rieger was preparing to move Friday with his wife and four children.
``That was money we were depending on highly. We needed it,'' he said. ``We went through the stages you go through when you have a loss - you get mad, you get angry, then you just want to sit down and cry.''
He never expected to see the money again. So he was surprised when Simmons called him.
``It was fantastic. It reinstated our belief in the human race,'' Rieger said.
Asked if he was ever tempted to keep the money, Simmons said, ``Oh, no. That's not the way I am. It could be my family.'' In fact, his wife once left a lot of money behind in a department store and got it back.
by CNB