ORLANDO, Fla. — Joe Lawrence is desperate to get a piece of his family history back.
In January, he was shopping at the Lake Nona Walmart when he accidentally left his wallet in a shopping cart.
Inside that wallet was some cash and a badge his father left him after he died.
“He worked for the sheriff’s department in New York for 25 years,” Lawrence said.
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Lawrence kept his dad’s wallet and retirement badge as a special keepsake of his father.
“The first five years of my life, it was only me and my dad,” he said.
Surveillance video shows Lawrence pushing a cart with his two daughters to his SUV, then dropping the cart off.
“We had money in there for rent, diapers, food, you know,” he said.
When police looked at the video, they saw a woman who appears to be standing by the cart before walking towards the store.
WATCH: Our detectives need to ID the stranger who stole a wallet from a Walmart parking lot on Narcoossee Rd Jan 26. The wallet had an old corrections badge from the owner's father & $2000. The woman took the wallet inside, concealed it in her purse & left. Info? 321-235-5300. pic.twitter.com/Ts5PvO4zQQ
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) February 5, 2021
Detectives say another video shows the woman walking into the store while going through what appears to be Lawrence’s wallet.
According to police, the wallet was never turned in. Now, they want to find the woman who may have taken it.
Lawrence says he doesn’t care about the money. All he wants is his father’s badge back.
“If she needs it, you know, God will bless us with more money, or whatever we need,” he said.
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Police believe the woman may have been driving a black Infiniti G35 and hope that if someone recognizes her, they will contact detectives.
Lawrence says even if the person who took the wallet doesn’t feel comfortable turning it into the police, he hopes they will at least drop it in the mail and send it back to him.
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