It was supposed to be all about clearing up rubbish, but Sunday’s Clean Up Australia Day has also cleared up a bit of mystery for Dunedoo woman Julie Rowbothem.
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In December last year, Ms Rowbothem’s handbag and all the belongings it contained were stolen after thieves broke into her car.
Yesterday Ms Rowbothem was stunned to discover Clean Up Australia Day volunteer Kelly Munge had found the handbag while picking up rubbish along the riverbank behind Woolworths on Sunday.
Amazingly, Ms Rowbothem’s makeup, wallet, driver’s licence and all her cards were all still in the bag. Not so surprisingly, her cash was not.
The bag was taken to the police station on Sunday, but the Daily Liberal yesterday was able to contact Ms Rowbothom about her stolen belongings and inform her that her bag had been found.
“I can’t believe it,” Ms Rowbothem said. “That is amazing.”
Mrs Rowbothem said her bag was stolen on December 17 last year after a thief or thieves smashed her car window and stole her bag when it was parked in a car park not far from where her belongings were recovered.
“I had been on a big trip around with my 90-year-old aunty to see family down on the South Coast and we were on our way home and decided to stop over in Dubbo for the night,” Ms Rowbothem said.
“It was about 7pm and it was a lovely evening so we had gone down to the river.
“We were stopped by this man who asked us if we were waiting for the police and when we said no he alerted us that a car up the road, my car, had the windows smashed in.”
Ms Rowbothem reported the incident to the police but hadn’t heard anything of her bag until yesterday.
Other odd things recovered from in and around the river on Clean Up Australia Day were two shopping trolleys and a sports bag full of newspapers.
anna.yeo@ruralpress.com
