Grandma praises teen who found her missing wallet and went out of his way to get it back to her
'God watched over me. He brought this angel into my life.'
Delivontae Johnson found Dee Harkrider's wallet.
When 19-year-old Delivontae Johnson pulled into a Walmart parking lot to replace a popped tire on Thursday, January 12, he had no idea he was going to change someone’s life. “I once heard in the church from a pastor the devil will strike before God begins to bless,” Johnson told Fox 16.
After parking in the pharmacy lot, the East Arkansas Community College student noticed someone left their wallet in a shopping cart. “I wasn’t supposed to be parking in that spot but thank God I did,” Johnson recalled. He opened the wallet and found it belonged to Dee Harkrider, 61, who lives in Wynne, Arkansas.
He was able to get in touch with Harkrider and she told him that she was in Palestine about 20 miles away from Wynne. “I live in Wynne, but I was in Palestine. So, that young man detoured and came to Palestine and brought me my wallet,” said Harkrider.
“I was at Walmart earlier in the day and left my wallet in the shopping cart out on the parking lot,” Harkinder later wrote on Facebook. “I got all the way back to Palestine when my friend Elaine called me asking me if I knew Delivontae Johnson and I told her no. He had contacted her to let her know he found my wallet but didn’t know how to get in touch with me and to let her know.”
The two met up in a supermarket parking lot and they posed for a photo that Harkrider later posted on Facebook. She was able to give him $20 as a reward for his good deed and for driving out to find her.
“I wanted people to know what this young man had done for me. I had to share it,” Harkrider said. “Thank you does not come even close to the gratitude I feel for this young man whom I met only today!” she wrote in her post.
Harkrider and Johnson now follow each other on Facebook and realized that they have a mutual friend in common. Harkrider believes that it was more than luck that brought the two together. “A friend told me I was lucky. I told her no, God was watching out for me,” Harkrider wrote on Facebook. “Delivontae Johnson, I pray that God bless you beyond any measure! Now I have a new friend!”
The story of Harkrider’s lost wallet is a great reminder that there are good people in this world. According to science, the vast majority of people across the world would return a lost wallet. A 2019 study found that when people found a wallet with the equivalent of $94 in cash inside, 72% of them returned it to their owners.
However, wallets with only $13 in them were returned only 61% of the time. It seems that the more money people find, the more likely they'll go out of their way to help someone. So, although it’s heartwarming to hear stories about people doing the right thing, we should remember that most people in this world will do the right thing when given the opportunity.