# found wallet from the 70's
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 12, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659 "2007-01-12T03:35:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/1 "2007-01-12T03:35:32Z")
While doing construction at my house, workers opened up a wall and found a guy’s wallet dating to 1975. Apparently he was a worker there, left it on a stud and the wall got sealed up without him knowing about it.
No, there are no bodies here. I think.
Anyway, how could I find this guy to give the wallet back to him, or his family if he’s not alive?
I have his Social Security card – it’s a metal card!! Not the crappy paper they give out today – his CA driver’s license, an honorable discharge card from the Army, his birthday (born in 1931), a Foreign Legion card, and a bunch of random stuff. There are sites that sell info based on SS#s but I don’t want to spend any money tracking him down.
Any way to do it for free? I think it’d be a hoot to get this back to him.
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### Author:  [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/2 "2007-01-12T03:42:01Z")
Turn it in to the police. [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=civ&group=02001-03000&file=2080-2080.10](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=civ&group=02001-03000&file=2080-2080.10)
> [@](#):
>
> Per Civil Procedure Section 2080.1, property valued over $100 shall be turned over to the Sheriff or Police Department.
>
> It is illegal to keep things you find and not return them to their owner. You must turn property in to the police. We will look for the owner and hold the property for the owner to pick up. Found property can be given to any police officer, or can be brought to the police station 24 hours a day. Found items may not only be lost, but may be stolen or be an important part of a crime police are now investigating.
[http://www.ci.campbell.ca.us/Police/FAQs.htm](http://www.ci.campbell.ca.us/Police/FAQs.htm)
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### Author:  [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/3 "2007-01-12T03:45:39Z")
Was there any money in it?
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### Author:  [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/4 "2007-01-12T03:46:10Z")
Bah, that’s no fun!! =)
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### Author:  [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/5 "2007-01-12T03:47:20Z")
And no, zero money in it.
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### Author:  [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/6 "2007-01-12T03:56:14Z")
Sometimes builders put things in walls to be found later, on purpose.
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### Author:  [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/7 "2007-01-12T03:56:31Z")
Did you try Googling the guy’s name?
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### Author:  [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/8 "2007-01-12T04:00:31Z")
easy enough to see if he’s alive…
[Social Security Death Index at Ancestry.com](http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3693)
If he’s not dead, there are plenty of online places to look for him.
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/9 "2007-01-12T04:00:57Z")
BTW, the metal SS card was not goverment issue. There was a company that heavily advertised them as practical gifts that would last a lifetime.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/10 "2007-01-12T04:01:42Z")
You can write him a letter and have the Social Security Administration try to forward it to him, based on his SS#. Someone once contacted me this way. Apparently, the SSA was able to pull up my current employer information from IRS records using my SS#, and sent the letter there.
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### Author:  [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/11 "2007-01-12T04:04:41Z")
I’m not sure the forwarding thing would work:
> [@](#):
>
> We will attempt to forward a letter to a missing person under circumstances involving a matter of great importance, such as a death or serious illness in the missing person’s immediate family, or a sizeable amount of money that is due the missing person. Also, the circumstances must concern a matter about which the missing person is unaware and would undoubtedly want to be informed.
[http://www.ssa.gov/foia/html/ltrfwding.htm](http://www.ssa.gov/foia/html/ltrfwding.htm)
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/12 "2007-01-12T04:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=filmyak]
Any way to do it for free? I think it’d be a hoot to get this back to him.
[/QUOTE]
Try [www.veromi.net](http://www.veromi.net) . You get the cities he has been livng in for free, though they are not always current, and there may be several for him if he moved around a lot. Then start checking phone books.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/13 "2007-01-12T05:12:19Z")
The guy had a California Driver’s license. Use [411.com](http://411.com) to see what family lives at that address now. You might get lucky.
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### Author:  [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/14 "2007-01-12T07:28:10Z")
Thanks everybody. Good suggestions all around. Though the [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) site wants money, too. If I can’t find him soon (and for free), will probably go to police at that point.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/15 "2007-01-12T08:22:25Z")
You can also find the [Social Security Death Index](http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/) for free at RootsWeb. Click on and use “Advance Search”.
Tip: do not enter middle name or middle initial.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/16 "2007-01-12T08:27:16Z")
BTW, I used to be a professional genealogist specializing in tracking down missing persons. If you’ll e-mail me the man’s name and date of birth, I can probably find his current contact information very quickly for you.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/17 "2007-01-12T08:46:10Z")
[QUOTE=Si Amigo]
BTW, the metal SS card was not goverment issue. There was a company that heavily advertised them as practical gifts that would last a lifetime.
[/QUOTE]
Let me guess: The company inscribed (or stamped, or whatever) the SSN onto the metal sheet.
Let me know if you still don’t see the problem (for the buyer) with this cunning plan.
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/18 "2007-01-12T12:16:02Z")
Derleth, I don’t believe I said there was a problem. Not sure what you are asking. I do recall that SS numbers were commonly used as a second form of ID in the 70’s (they even put them on your driver’s license) and that it became a big deal to stop using it as such.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/19 "2007-01-12T13:00:36Z")
[QUOTE=Si Amigo]
Derleth, I don’t believe I said there was a problem. Not sure what you are asking.
[/QUOTE]
I’m commenting on the huge security risk inherent in having one company collect massive amounts of SSNs. Even if the company itself is clean, all it takes is one or two employees with criminal minds.
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### Author:  [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/20 "2007-01-12T15:27:45Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth]
I’m commenting on the huge security risk inherent in having one company collect massive amounts of SSNs. Even if the company itself is clean, all it takes is one or two employees with criminal minds.
[/QUOTE]
Today, hundreds of companies collect masses of private information, including SSNs, and fraud is rampant. The greater the number of companies having access to sensitive private information, the greater the probability of privacy leaks and the more difficult it is for government investigators to trace said leaks.
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