The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Owner reunited with bag pinched in 2003
GLENROTHES: Litter pickers turn to social media to right a historic wrong
A Fife woman has been reunited with her handbag nearly two decades after it was stolen.
Shelagh Heggie, 72, pictured, thinks it was pinched from her home in Ancrum Court, Glenrothes, around 2003.
Remarkably, on Saturday, litter pickers found it while they were cleaning up a woodland.
They used social media to track down Ms Heggie, and volunteer Gillian Spence handed over the longlost item.
Ms Heggie said: “There was a picture of my mother inside which was still in reasonably good condition and there was also a whole host of store cards. My mother passed away 19 years ago and that picture was one of her bus pass photos.
“When my pal alerted me to Gillian’s Facebook post I couldn’t believe there was a picture of my mother staring back at me.”
Apensioner has been reunited with a handbag that was stolen almost two decades ago. Shelagh Heggie, 72, reckoned the handbag was stolen from her home in Ancrum Court, Glenrothes, around 2003, while she was out cutting her grass.
Fife Street Champions unearthed the handbag during a litter pick in a woodland behind Roxburgh Road on Saturday.
Thanks to the powers of social media, volunteer Gillian Spence was able to reunite the bag with its owner.
“It was a strange day being reunited with that bag,” said Ms Heggie.
“There was a picture of my mother which was still in reasonably good condition and there was also a whole host of store cards.”
Despite being unsure of the dates, she remembers contacting the police at the time.
“There is a main path near the front of my garden.
“Two boys passed while I was cutting the grass and I remembered the backdoor was unlocked,” she said.
“As I went in the front door one of the boys was coming out the back.
“According to the officer there had been a spate of thefts at the time.
“My mobile phone was taken as well, it was a big brick of a phone.”
She said she was “delighted” to get the picture of her mother back.
She said: “My mother passed away 19 years ago and that picture was one of her bus pass photos.
“When my pal alerted me to Gillian’s Facebook post I couldn’t believe there was a picture of my mother staring back at me.
“I can’t thank Gillian enough and the team for their efforts in reuniting me with these items.
“I got her flowers and a bottle of wine when I met her to say thanks.”
Gillian said she was “hopeful” of reuniting the handbag with the rightful owner after launching the appeal.
“The Fife Street Champions just go and pick various areas to litter pick.
“We picked an area of woodland near Roxburgh Road,” she said.
“The bag was bogged down in the marsh and we dug it out.
“Given some of the loyalty cards we knew it had some age to it. We were hopeful of tracking someone down who may have known Shelagh or her family directly.
“It all happened quite quickly that we found the rightful owner after all this time.”