MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
Montgomery resident Walter Herron didn't expect to stumble upon what he did Monday morning. "I saw pictures of her family here," Herron said.
He's an athletic trainer at World's Gym on the Eastern Boulevard who jogs in this area on Fairlane Drive off of Vaughn Road every morning.
"I didn't want to leave nothing behind," Herron said.
Nancy Woodfin says pieces of her entire life where in that purse. "My purse was my everything. God bless him," Woodfin said.
Credit cards, family photos, even her nursing license and an antique nail clipper that is the only personal item she has from her father who passed away in 1978.
"It's not much, but when you have one little thing that you hold on to, to remember your father by, it's one of those things you want to make sure you get back. This really means a lot to me," Woodfin said.
She says thieves broke her car window in the parking lot of her job on Upper Wetumpka Road and stole her pistol out of the glove compartment and her purse off the backseat.
"I'm a black man in Montgomery running down the interstate with a purse, so it was kind of weird, but a good thing and I'm glad she had closure more than anything," Herron said.
Woodfin looks at a table full of recovered family photos and her father's nail clipper, all irreplaceable and now back in her possession.
"I got back the good stuff, you know. "I can't put it into words," Woodfin said.
"What if was your mother and she had her purse and stuff gone, or your daughter or cousin or sister, you want to see some of those things back," Herron said.
Woodfin picked up her purse later that day from the gym, but the trainer was gone. So they never met but Mrs. Nancy says she will be contacting him soon to thank him.
Woodfin says she only had $3 in her wallet and was able to cancel credit cards and close her checking account, but that gun and some other items have not been recovered.
No arrests have been made in connection with the break-in.
If you can help police call the Montgomery Police Department's Secret Witness line at 334-262-4000.
Copyright 2012 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.
Nancy Woodfin holds a photo of her mother and father, and the nail clipper her father owned. It's the only thing of his she still has.
Walter Herron found the stolen purse while jogging. He knew he had to return it to the owner.
Woodfin looks at a table full of recovered family photos.
Woodfin's father and the recovered nail clippers that were in her stolen purse.
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