Begs the obvious question - How else can one be sure that the cops won't just "appropriate" the money?

Why did he file a police report? If someone found my wallet and called me, I would just go get my wallet and maybe give the person a small reward. Calling the police wouldn't even occur to me. The whole thing sounds incredibly bizarre.

Thank you, Goddess :) I'm an admirer of pitchman Offer Shlomi (aka Vince Offer), albeit not his considerable sleaze factor.

I once found a wallet at a mall, no money but several credit cards. The owner was not in the phone book. I tried calling the credit card companies for help in locating the owner but kept getting the automated menus. I'd eventually have to punch-dial a private code number or answer a question I'd couldn't possibly know as per understandable security measures. Finally I was able to reach a living person operator without all that and was able to explain the situation. They were able to contact the owner afterward. He called me, and we made arrangements to return the wallet. He was grateful.

A couple weeks ago my wife came home with a 200 pound St Bernard named Zeus she found wandering around in traffic. We found the owners, and two weeks later they called to see if we knew anyone who wanted a 200 pound St Bernard.

While transitioning from musician to human being some years ago, I drove a cab. A sailor exited my ride at his pier one night, unaware that he'd left a package on the back seat. I discovered it just as he was about to climb the ship's brow. I ran to the security gate with the package and they called the quarterdeck to send the guy back. I never learned what was in that package, but the sailor insisted that I accept a $50 tip for my trouble.

Going to trial seems excessive and unnecessary. But my first thought when I read this was to wonder why she didn't just give the wallet to the police when they asked. Especially since she herself enlisted their help to find the owner. I can't help but think she made this way more complicated than it needed to be.

Not saying it is in anyway similar, but a really complicated version of this happened to a guy I worked with.

1 - wallet got stolen out of his car, 2- received a phone call from someone who "found it", 3 - Finder wanted a reward (saying he found it in a trash can with no money), 4 - Via caller ID, co-worker had police trace phone call to a hotel nearby..."finder" had been locked out for not paying the last few days...5. Police gained access to the room and found all co-workers information (most of it anyway) including wallet. No money, no cards, though.

And on and on it went. This man was a complete pain in the ass and wouldn't go to police, said he'd meet here, then there....very suspicious character.

My co-worker even got a phone call back from this "finder" months later asking for the reward money - saying he was broke and that my co-worker should help him out since the "finder" did him a favor.

Not saying that was the case with this lady - but these really can be scams...and no one can prove anything.

Once you involve the police you really have to follow their rules. But I did find, and return a wallet a few years back. Basically I thought I could find the woman faster and reassure her peace of mind faster than they could. She had the lost the wallet a town over from where her license showed she lived. There's a state line in between. I can only imagine the bureaucracy involved in moving the evidence around. I reached her by phone in under an hour and got her wallet back to her same day.

When I was 15 (many years ago), I found a wallet in the restrooms. It had quite a bit of money in it and so I went to the customer services desk to say I found it. The clerk behind the counter gave me a dirty look and stated very loudly, 'Oh did you now!?' and snatched it from my hands. Then he proceeded to tell me to get the hell out of his store. Since then I contact owners directly if I find something of theirs.