Runner gets his wallet back

The honesty of a 13-year-old boy who handed in a lost wallet containing $80 cash has restored a man's faith in human nature.

Tari Sinclair regularly runs the beach from Omanu to Mount Maunganui.

It helps him deal with what he described as a "rough time".

Mr Sinclair set off on a run on Wednesday with his wallet inside a belt bag but when he returned home, the wallet was missing and the bag's zip was open.

'So I went all the way down to the Mount again and a guy helped me and I couldn't find it," he said.

"It had $80 cash, my driver's licence and all my cards in there."

Mr Sinclair searched three times but was unsuccessful.

When he bumped into a man he recognised from Bayfair Shopping Centre, he told him his story.

"Then he said 'Oh, my son found it'.

"I said 'I'm not kidding, I've really lost it' and he said 'I'm not kidding, my son's found it'."

The wallet had been handed in to police by the 13-year-old and was soon reunited with Mr Sinclair, with everything still inside.

"For a boy that age, it's just amazing.

"I just want to say thanks. He could have gone 'Oh, found myself a wallet' and keep the money and dump it but he took the whole thing in."

Mr Sinclair met Murphy Morse yesterday to express his gratitude, and gave him $30.

Murphy said he felt "pretty good" about handing the wallet in.