LAKE CRYSTAL, Minn. (KARE) - A mechanic in Minnesota made a long-lost discovery in an SUV he was working on.
The man found a wallet that a former Ford employee lost over a decade ago.
As the owner of an auto repair shop, there isn’t much Chad Volk hasn’t seen.
But as Volk just learned, he’ll “never see everything.”
Volk was replacing the cooling fans on an 11-year-old Ford. He pulled out the air box and learned the Ford hid a secret.
A Ford assembly worker's lost wallet has been found 11 years later by a mechanic working on a car.
The wallet puzzled the veteran mechanic, who then pulled from inside, the work ID of a Ford Motor Company employee.
Volk took to Facebook.
“The first thing I said was, ‘Did you find that in a car?’” Richard Guilford recalled.
Guilford built Ford vehicles in Michigan.
“I never wore sweatpants to work, but I did that day and I had my wallet in my shirt pocket,” Guilford said.
A Ford assembly worker's lost wallet has been found 11 years later by a mechanic working on a car.
As he leaned over that same vehicle 11 years ago, the wallet popped out.
“I checked and I’m like, ‘Schmitty, I lost my wallet.’ So, we all went out and tried to look. There was 2,000 cars out there and we couldn’t find it,” Guilford said.
So, the wallet traveled in the Edge to a dealership in Arizona, then to Lake Crystal, Minnesota. And 150,000 miles later, it went to the repair shop of an honest mechanic.
“Just the way I was raised,” Volk said.
Volk walked the wallet three doors down to a post office.
“There’s nothing wrong with the money at all,” Guilford said.
Every dollar was present.
“It’s well-traveled currency,” Guilford added.
Also, lottery tickets and the $250 in gift cards Guilford had planned to use to buy Christmas presents for his kids were also still in the wallet.
Volk and Guilford have since talked face-to-face for the first time.
“I would have never, never figured in a million years that would still be there,” Guilford said.
The two car guys are now uniquely bonded by a wallet and a story with an Edge.
The man found a wallet that a former Ford employee lost over a decade ago.
As the owner of an auto repair shop, there isn’t much Chad Volk hasn’t seen.
But as Volk just learned, he’ll “never see everything.”
Volk was replacing the cooling fans on an 11-year-old Ford. He pulled out the air box and learned the Ford hid a secret.

A Ford assembly worker's lost wallet has been found 11 years later by a mechanic working on a car.
The wallet puzzled the veteran mechanic, who then pulled from inside, the work ID of a Ford Motor Company employee.
Volk took to Facebook.
“The first thing I said was, ‘Did you find that in a car?’” Richard Guilford recalled.
Guilford built Ford vehicles in Michigan.
“I never wore sweatpants to work, but I did that day and I had my wallet in my shirt pocket,” Guilford said.

A Ford assembly worker's lost wallet has been found 11 years later by a mechanic working on a car.
As he leaned over that same vehicle 11 years ago, the wallet popped out.
“I checked and I’m like, ‘Schmitty, I lost my wallet.’ So, we all went out and tried to look. There was 2,000 cars out there and we couldn’t find it,” Guilford said.
So, the wallet traveled in the Edge to a dealership in Arizona, then to Lake Crystal, Minnesota. And 150,000 miles later, it went to the repair shop of an honest mechanic.
“Just the way I was raised,” Volk said.
Volk walked the wallet three doors down to a post office.
“There’s nothing wrong with the money at all,” Guilford said.
Every dollar was present.
“It’s well-traveled currency,” Guilford added.
Also, lottery tickets and the $250 in gift cards Guilford had planned to use to buy Christmas presents for his kids were also still in the wallet.
Volk and Guilford have since talked face-to-face for the first time.
“I would have never, never figured in a million years that would still be there,” Guilford said.
The two car guys are now uniquely bonded by a wallet and a story with an Edge.