[KatWoman]

OAK PARK, Ill. - Audrey Wheeler thought she had lost all those memories - the photograph of her smiling father, pictures of nieces and nephews now grown, a copy of the 23rd Psalm that was handed out at her father's funeral. They were gone with the purse that was stolen in an Oak Park restaurant in 1960.


But thanks to the construction crew that found the purse in a wall and a police officer who wouldn't give up his attempt to find the owner, Wheeler has her purse back.

Only $67.02 in cash - her weekly take-home pay back in 1960 - was missing.

"The hell with the money," said Wheeler, 74. "The pictures are what's important."

Wheeler's lost purse didn't travel far. The thief apparently left it in the kitchen of the Hasty Tasty restaurant.

A construction crew found it in a wall while tearing the restaurant down a couple of years ago. The company held onto it for quite awhile before turning it in to police, said Oak Park Police Sgt. Jacques Conway.

Conway said he got the purse last fall and it was packed away during remodeling at the police station. It resurfaced in December, just as Conway was leaving for vacation.

But when he returned, he went to work trying to find the purse's owner. A trip to the address listed on Wheeler's old ID card was fruitless, so he ran her name through the secretary of state's computer.

Several matches came up, and Conway called phone numbers until he reached Wheeler's house in Chicago.

The long story came to an end when Wheeler walked into the Oak Park police station, where several smiling police officers waited with the old black suede purse and a bouquet of flowers.

"It was meant for her to get her belongings back," Conway said. "We're just so glad we were able to play a part in this."

Wheeler says the long-lost items may mean more now.

"This purse is worth its weight in gold because of the memories," she said.