Wallet lost at sea 8 months ago found washed up on B.C. beach

After months of beachcombing, a Tofino, B.C., woman found her lost wallet washed ashore, filled with all her cash and cards in perfect condition.

Earlier this week, Marcie Callewaert, a photographer who lives in Clayoquot Sound, was walking her dog on a Vancouver Island beach, as she does every day, when she noticed a rectangular dark green object hidden among shoreline debris.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"I literally stopped in my tracks," Callewaert said in an interview with CBC News.

It was her wallet, one she'd lost eight months earlier, filled with bank cards, licences and money.

The wallet first disappeared on a sunny day in June when Callewaert had paddled out to her boat just off the west coast of Tofino on calm, glassy waters. She heard a splash as she got into the boat, but didn't think much of it. Callewaert later discovered her wallet was missing from her backpack when she went to pay for a meal.

She realized the splash she'd heard earlier was her wallet falling into the water.

"It was pure panic," she said.

Callewaert returned to the area and started combing the beach, hoping it had washed up on shore. She texted neighbours asking them to watch out for her dark green wallet — a tough colour to spot among the green ocean waters and natural colours of a beach.

On the next low tide, she snorkelled around where it had fallen to search for it. She shared her story on social media, documenting her beachcombing and snorkelling.

She hired a diver with Tofino Marine Services a few days later to comb a 3.7-square-metre area on the ocean floor for her wallet and its contents. CBC News spoke to the salvage diver who confirmed he had been hired by Callewaert to search for the wallet. Callewaert shared a video of the diver in June.

He returned to the surface empty-handed.

Callewaert accepted that the wallet was gone, and started making calls to replace some of her cards.

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When she finally found it, the zipper was stuck, so she used a knife to open it up.

"It was remarkably well–preserved, aside from the coins that were a little gross," she said.

Callewaert was shocked to find her lost wallet after searching for it for months, just sitting on the beach she walks every day among ocean debris. (Marcie Callewaert)

She was excited to find a couple of stickers, some gift cards and cash in good condition — despite the wallet being full of sand.

Callewaert said she knew she'd find  one day, she just didn't know when.

"I had a feeling it was going to happen all along … but I have been looking for eight months."

"For it to finally happen was indescribable."