SANTA CRUZ — A family on vacation from Malaysia who accidentally walked away from a fanny pack containing a large amount of cash, passports and other valuables had their vacation plans revived by good Samaritans recently.
Last week, an anonymous citizen dropped off a fanny pack they found on a bench in Pescadero, on the coast north of Santa Cruz. It contained four passports, $1,990 in U. S. currency, $250 in Canadian cash along with a car key and some sim cards.
An office assistant from the Santa Cruz Police Department with a knack for tracking down owners of lost items jumped into action, a spokesperson with SCPD said.
There were also Asian passports and plane tickets in the fanny pack, indicating that they just arrived in the area.
The super sleuth assistant was able to connect with Mostsim, an international sim card company, and got the owner’s contact info, the spokesperson said. Her research unveiled an email address which ultimately connect SCPD with the family.
Joyce Blaschke of SCPD said the family “was crying with tears of happiness” because they were on their way to Southern California to the embassy to cancel their vacation.
The family of four, visiting from Malaysia and Canada, turned their car around in Monterey and came back to Santa Cruz to pick up their travel documents and cash.
The family was sweet and appreciative, the spokesperson said. They were physically shaking when recovering their property.
SCPD noted that the good Samaritans not only turned over the cash and other goods, they drove from Pescadero to the nearest police department, SCPD.
The good Samaritans did not ask of anything in return, the spokesperson said.
