A Fife pensioner has described it as a “strange day” after being reunited with her handbag that was stolen almost two decades ago.
Shelagh Heggie, received a treasure trove of items – including a picture of her late mother Agnes Brown – that had been taken from her home in Ancrum Court in Glenrothes.
The 72-year-old couldn’t recall the exact dates but reckoned the handbag was stolen from her property around 2003, whilst she was out cutting the grass.
Fife Street Champions to the rescue
Fife Street Champions unearthed the handbag in bogged marsh during a litter pick in a woodland area behind Roxburgh Road on Saturday.
Thanks to the powers of social media, Fife Street Champions volunteer, Gillian Spence was quickly able to reunite the bag with the former supermarket worker.
“It was a strange day being reunited with that bag,” Shelagh explained.
“There was a picture of my mother which was still in reasonably good condition and there was also a whole host of store cards.
“I use to work in Safeway in Glenrothes and my store discount card was amongst the items.
“There was also a card for Blockbuster Video – some of these cards could be antiques in their own right now.”
‘Spate of thefts at the time’
Despite being unsure of the exact dates Shelagh does remember contacting the police at the time of the theft.
“There is a main path near the front of my garden. Two boys passed whilst I was cutting the grass and I remembered the backdoor was unlocked,” she explained.
“As I went in the front door one of the boys was coming out the back. I reported the handbag stolen and the officer took all the details.
“According to the officer there had been a spate of thefts at the time. My mobile phone was taken as well, it was a big brick of a phone.
“I remember my daughter saying at the time ‘trust me no one will keep that phone’.”
As she reminisced on the incident she admitted she was “delighted” to get the picture back of her mother Agnes.
She said: “My mother passed away 19-years-ago and that picture was one of her bus pass photos.
“When my pal alerted me to Gillian’s Facebook post I couldn’t believe there was a picture of my mother staring back at me.
“I can’t thank Gillian enough and the team for their efforts in reuniting me with these items, I got her flowers and a bottle of wine when I met her to say thanks.”
Gillian said she was “hopeful” of reuniting the handbag with the rightful owner after launching the appeal.
“The Fife Street Champions just go and pick various areas to litter pick. We picked an area of woodland near Roxburgh Road,” she said.
“The bag was bogged down in the marsh and we dug it out. Given some of the loyalty cards we knew it had some age to it.
“We were hopeful of tracking someone down who may have known Shelagh or her family directly.
“It all happened quite quickly that we found the rightful owner after all this time.”
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