WELLINGTON -- It took 57 years, but a former U.S. marine who lost his wallet in Wellington now has it back.

Louise Alliston was shifting a couch she bought two years ago into her new home in June when she noticed a bulge in the fabric on one of the arms. It turned out to be an old wallet full of photos, news clippings from 1943, and the identification cards of a U.S. marine, Chuck Herrler.

"We debated what to do, how do we get hold of this person. I did not want to send it into the never-never," Alliston said.