Lost wallet returned 42 years later

Freeman Hall's driver's license, birth certificate and a photo of hid then infant son were still in his wallet when it was found in the ceiling of a Nova Scotia high school

It’s taken more than four decades, but a lost, dusty wallet has finally been returned to its owner after it was discovered in the roof of a Nova Scotia high school.

Construction foreman Neil Northrop said he was surprised last week when he found a wallet in the ceiling at Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth, N.S. during renovations.

“It was just completely covered in dust,” he said.

But it was no surprise to Freeman Hall who lost the wallet 42 years ago.

Freeman Hall used to work for CBC on the show Countrytime. (CBC)

Back in 1971, CBC taped a national show called Countrytime in the school's auditorium. Hall often climbed inside the ceiling to run cables and hang lights.

Hall remembers losing the wallet. "We were going out for lunch and I went to grab my wallet and I didn't have it. I said 'Oh, it's up there, way back in the corner.’ I went to look for it for a couple times and never found it,” he said.

Northrop turned the wallet over to Natasha Erskine, the custodial manager at the high school, and she went to work trying to track down Hall, using his CBC identification card as a clue.

On Monday Northrop, who wasn't even born when the wallet was lost, returned it to its owner.

Hall’s driver’s license, birth certificate, health card, and a Simpson's credit card were all still intact. There was also a photo of his three-month-old son, who is now 42 years old with a son of his own.

Hall said he is grateful for the efforts of Erskine and Northrop — who say they're as happy to have returned it as Hall is to receive it.

“'It’s the way it should be,” said Northrop.