What would you do if you found a purse at a Goodwill store that had hundreds of dollars inside it?

Would you keep the money or return it to its owner?

Randall Platt recently found herself in that situation.

Platt, 66, and her husband moved to the Olalla area two years ago after living more than 35 years in Gig Harbor. Platt, a published author who writes historical fictional books, was preparing to attend a book event in Portland and needed a larger purse to carry some of her “author copies” of her books. She went to the Port Orchard Goodwill store on Dec. 3, looking for a larger purse.

“I need something a little bit roomer than my small purse,” Platt said. “I looked at purses they had lined up. I found one that was very cute, but it was roomy.”

After doing some more shopping at other stores, Platt returned to Goodwill.

“I went back and got the purse,” she said. “I brought it home and sat it on the counter and noticed a pouch in the bottom of the purse. It has a lot of compartments in it.”

When she reached in the compartment to pull out the contents, Platt found a men’s wallet and a glass case.

“We all dream of finding something,” Platt said. “Whether it’s beach combing and finding something or hitting the lottery. We all have it in us in finding riches.”

Platt said her first reaction was that she found “something wonderful.” The wallet contained nearly $700 comprised of hundreds, fifties and some $20 bills.”

“I started digging in the wallet and I found four pieces of identification,” she said. “I found the glasses in the case and when I found that I knew I had to return them.”

The wallet belonged to Alfred “Al” Thorne. After researching his name of the Internet, Platt found his obituary on the Internet. He died on Nov. 9 at age 87.

In the wallet was Thorne’s Washington state driver’s license, a frequent haircut card, an Eagle’s membership card and a veteran military identification card.

“I knew I had to track him down somehow,” Platt said.

Platt found that a memorial service for Thorne was Nov. 21 at the St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Port Orchard. She called the church and spoke to Judy Ricciardi, the church secretary, who was a close friend of the Thorne family.

Ricciardi contacted Thorne’s widow, Helen, and told her than her husband’s wallet and glass case had been found inside a purse purchased from Goodwill.

Now, the rest of the story.

The wallet was misplaced in the purse when the Thornes and their daughter took a road trip to Arizona to bid farewell to a dying friend in 2011.

Al Thorne was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s and seemed extra protective of his wallet and cash. Somewhere in Nevada, the family stopped for gas and the wallet was left behind at the gas station, but quickly retrieved.

Hours later, they stopped for lunch and miles down the road, they noticed the wallet was gone.

“The best anyone can reconstruct is after Al once left his wallet at a gas station, he was thinking he needed to hide his wallet,” Platt said. “Al was in the back seat, his wife up front with their daughter driving. He put it inside his wife’s purse where he knew it would be safe.”

Platt said Helen Thorne was unaware her husband placed his wallet in her purse.

“When they needed money, they couldn’t find the wallet,”

With just enough gas, but no money, the family was able to reach their destination and say goodbye to their friend.

But there was no money left for the trip home. Their friend’s husband was able to lend them enough money to get back home to Washington.

The issue of the lost wallet, glasses and case and identification was forgotten for the next three years.

Platt thinks the purse was placed in a drawer, closet or garage.

“It wasn’t seeing the wallet or the money, but when I pulled out his glasses case and handed it to her she had tears in her eyes,” Platt said.

Platt said that Helen Thorne offered her a $100 reward. She gave it back to her as a Christmas present.

“Serendipity? Coincidence? Nah,” Platt said. “I sort of think there’s a guy fishing up in heaven by the name of Al who felt bad he’d done such a good job of hiding his cash and wanted to make sure his Helen, wife of 62 years, has a good Christmas. I am just delighted to have been chosen as the vehicle by which he was able to make his connection.”

Platt later discovered that Thorne was in the military during World War II, Korean and Vietnam wars. After enlisting in 1944, he served 27 years and retired as a senior boatmaster on April 1, 1971.

“He was a lifer in the U.S. Navy,” she said. “He is a hero.”