A kind stranger who found a Liverpool woman's lost purse in a New York taxi managed to track her down using careers website LinkedIn.
Sarah Hodgson said she was "gutted" when she realised the treasured item - a leaving gift from her last job - had fallen out of her bag in a cab in Brooklyn.
But while she was resigned to it being gone forever, the black Radley purse had in fact been found by the family of a student from Chicago.
He then used the information on Sarah's work pass to find her on the employment social network.
Sarah, who works in children's services at Liverpool City Council , was stunned when she checked her e-mails to see the message "Your lost wallet".
She said: "I thought 'Friday night, Brooklyn, I'm never getting that back."
"I didn't realise until the next day that it had gone. I was trying to find my purse and I just knew I must have left it in the taxi.
"We'd only landed the day before and my brother Michael had flown in from Toronto so we met him in Manhattan. My kids are only five and seven, we'd been out all day, it was boiling hot and we were all really tired.
"We were staying in Brooklyn so we got the boat back. It was 9pm and my little girl was fast asleep so we got a taxi from the boat terminal to the hotel.
"I paid the taxi driver but my bag was open and it must have just fallen out."
The purse - a present from her former colleagues at Sefton Council - contained £50 in English money, over 100 US dollars and her debit and credit cards.
Every penny was returned - and her Good Samaritan refused to take any money as a thank you, even paying for the purse to be shipped to the UK this week.
Sarah, 38, from Crosby, said: "We just got on with our holiday. I cancelled my cards and my husband had to pay for everything!
"When we were flying home on the Tuesday I checked my e-mails and saw this message about my purse.
"His family had found it. It had my work ID in it and he had the idea of tracking me down via LinkedIn. He could tell from the photo on my profile that it was me.
"I told him to take some money out of it to post it back but he wouldn't and sent it by FedEx."
Sarah was visiting New York with husband Gareth, mum Angela, son Alex, seven, and daughter Sadie, five as a 40th birthday treat for Gareth.
And losing her purse wasn't end of her bad luck.
She said: "On the Saturday night I left my handbag in a bar - it's a Mulberry and was a present - but I got it back.
"At one point my phone was the only thing I had left!
"I'm not in business so I don't really use LinkedIn. I couldn't believe I got the bag back and then the purse - I was very surprised.
"The people in Brooklyn are so friendly and I'd definitely go back."
The holiday money in Sarah's purse will now be put towards a family trip to Toronto next year.
