In 1975, Colleen Distin went to see a movie at the Majestic Ventura Theater in Southern California and left without her wallet.
Thanks to the help of social media, her wallet has returned home more than 4 decades later.
While the theater was being remodeled during COVID-19, workers made the incredible discovery of Distin's wallet while renovating the cinema's attic, People reported.
"The other day one of our employees was changing out some light bulbs and the chandelier dropped a couple of inches, and we had to fix it," theater employee Tom Stevens told local outlet KEYT. The man claimed that the red wallet was found in an area litered with candy bar wrappers, soda cans, and movie stubs.
Upon further inspection, Stevens learned the wallet contained old photos, a Greateful Dead concert ticket, and the name of missing owner: Colleen Distin. He headed straight to social media to track her down.
"Does anyone know Colleen Distin?" he wrote on the theater's Facebook page. "While doing some maintenance we have found her wallet. There are a bunch of pictures of people, and they are super cool from that era also. Someone may want them. So if you are, or if you know Colleen, drop us a line and we will have it here for you!"
The post received lots of attention online, including over 2,000 likes and 770 comments. One comment is from Distin herself, who wrote, "It’s me. I tried calling earlier. This is amazing! I remember calling the next day when I realized it was gone. They said no one found it, but to call back, which I did."
She continued, "Such a blast from the past, and a good one I must say. A bit of joy and much laughter which is always needed in these times. I just want to say Thank You for reaching out. It made me happy that a place like this would go to the extent you did. I’m grateful and will be by in a couple days to retrieve my time capsule.
"It is really wonderful, it really is," Distin, who still lives near the theater, told KEYT of having her wallet returned. "I am kind of emotional."
The wallet had photos of her late mom inside of it.
"Pictures of my mom which was really sweet because she passed away a couple of years ago," she said. "Holy crap. It is hard to explain the feeling that I had because it is kind of an emotional one and excitement."
While it is not known how the wallet made it to the attic, the theater was ecstatic to have been able to bring Distin some closure.
"It's amazing," Stevens said. "I am so glad she found it, to see all those memories from that long ago."
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