Found a US Driving License (from Tennessee) on my train this morning ... can anyone help?

[The Stig]

Ok here's the situation and why I am being a little bit of a tryhard (which to be fair, wasn't much effort on my part):

I picked up a pink purse belonging to a woman in TN (Tennessee) the Volunteer State on my regular commute to work in London, Circle Line (the tube ... or metro, or subway).

Inside, her TN driving license, with her photo/address on it, is present.

Among the other items, is her American Express credit card and Metropolitan debit card (I presume to be a bank establishment over in the USA). Most importantly, there is a little medicines container with 6 compartments in it, all with different looking drugs.

I cannot say if she's here for holiday or work, nor can I say if she's alone or with family. Though most of these documents are fine to be replaced if lost, I'm rather concerned about the medicines container because I have no idea what condition she might be in that requires all these drugs.

Ideally, I would like to return it to her as soon as possible, in person. Either way, ultimately if I get nowhere with this, I will be handing it to lost property.

What I've done so far:

- I found her on Facebook, but she does not appear to be a regular user
- I dropped her a PM on Facebook, which might not be as useful because messages from people outside your Friend List is placed into another inbox. I also sent her a friend request for a bit more visibility. I told her of the situation, and that I will be handing it in as Lost Property*

*see below for an explanation

- Contacted American Express in London, who told me to call the international number. I reported the situation to them in the hopes that they can contact her to on my behalf via an e-mail or a mobile call, but they refused/not allowed, which is understandable

The reason I did not immediately hand it to lost property is because there is a centralised location for all lost property on the transport system/company. As a result, even if I handed it in straight away at my station, she would not know which station to immediately look (and I had no idea how long the purse has been there), and all lost property is eventually shipped to a specific location at the end of the day (if she went there before the end of today it would not be present).

She lives in MEMPHIS TN 38111



My next actions are as follows (which I probably WON'T do because it might become borderline creepy), once everyone starts waking up in the US:
- Attempt to message a church she volunteers at (evidence: her facebook profile), to get them to contact her on my behalf
- Attempt to message people that commented on her photos (won't work too good, again, the "not on friends list" message system is unreliable.) Unfortunately her privacy options prevent me from being able to comment on stuff otherwise everyone would be notified of my comment.


- Finally, take a photo of what I handed in and pop it into lost property directly. This is in the event she gets in touch with me, I can forward her the photos for faster identification of the purse (it's a loot cave down there, I've seen it myself via TV. You do NOT want to identify an item based on description)



So... if anyone happens to live nearby lol, I wondered if someone can knock on her door and hope someone is in that can contact her? Or, is it possible that with this ID/driving license it is possible to track down her e-mail or mobile (Cell) number?

[Byrthnoth]

Look up the imprint on the pills and assess whether they seem important. If you can't identify them, they was either compounded or aren't really medicine.
http://www.rxlist.com/pill-identific...ol/article.htm

[Lyall]

It might not be a terrible idea to reach out to the church group? It'll sound a little crazy on the phone but you're ultimately acting out of concern for someone in their community. Ask if they can call her to confirm she lost her stuff, find out if she needs it that urgently, and then go about getting it to her.

[Cantih]

Well first off, I can tell you getting a cell number (or e-mail) from ID/drivers license info is a no-go. While phone books can be used to cross reference name, address, and phone number, it's only for landline phones.

You may not have any idea how long the purse has been there, but I would assume that if she's already home in Tennessee all the way from London, it's been long enough that the meds are a non-issue at this point. Getting a BGer to go knock on her door in that case is a really bad idea.
So best to assume she's still in the UK atm. If the church she's volunteering at is in the UK (and the reason for the trip, information unclear) definitely contact them, as they're likely to have the freshest information on her whereabouts.
If it's one back in TN, then they might have someone to contact her, or at least someone will know her closely enough to find out if this is critical medical stuff or not.*

That's about all you can do for a "now" case as far as I can think.

For down the line, if you don't know/trust that the lost & found at the tube will send the purse back to TN from the ID it has, you could try taking it to the US Embassy.
Or shipping it to the address yourself, but I assume anything more than a paper letter internationally is a massive headache.

*My mother has one of those pill things, she mainly keeps asprin, antacids, motion sickness, and such there, not any critical medications.

[The Stig]

Look up the imprint on the pills and assess whether they seem important. If you can't identify them, they was either compounded or aren't really medicine.
http://www.rxlist.com/pill-identific...ol/article.htm

Hey this was quite fun haha, but the only identifiable drug appears to be some cold medicine. The rest could be vitamins.

It might not be a terrible idea to reach out to the church group? It'll sound a little crazy on the phone but you're ultimately acting out of concern for someone in their community. Ask if they can call her to confirm she lost her stuff, find out if she needs it that urgently, and then go about getting it to her.

Yeh handily that contacts page on the church site has nearly everyone's e-mail address that works there. If I circulate a quick message to all of them, perhaps 1 will pick it up and hopefully not file me into spam.


@Cantih: thanks, I agree with the logic (and you're probably right about the medicines container). For now I'm not feeling too rich to spend money to ship stuff around, so I will attempt not to do that haha. But yeh either way I'm nearing the end of my options and will be doing the final 2 things (messaging church and then placing it into lost property). If need be I got the photos to retrieve the item again and take it to the US Embassy.

[Bardicrune]

Just curious, but, was her passport in the purse? If so, she will most likely contact the US Embassy there in London. It may be possible to turn the purse over to them and get it to her that way.

Edit: I should learn to refresh before posting after having a page up for a few minutes.

[The Stig]

Thankfully her passport was not included (the most crucial items). Otherwise yes if the passport was there then handing it in to police/US embassy was the most logical path that overrides the local authorities. Firing out an e-mail now to the church people explaining the situation and asking if this know this person and whether they can contact her on my behalf to check facebook or e-mail me.

[Zetanio]

Give it to the embassy. They will easily find her.

[Zetanio]

Source: Lost passport and ID in London after a long night. Was returned by noon the next day to the embassy.

[The Stig]

Handy, I work pretty much down the road from it (where nearly every other embassy is located). I'll check opening times/if it's busy/etc and drop in. See if they'll take it.

[Zetanio]

Hours: Open today · 8:30AM–5:30PM

Address: 24 Grosvenor Square, London W1A 2LQ, United Kingdom

[tyven]

this is a great thread! Good on you for being such a stand up guy Stig!

[Sonomaa]

embassy or message the church, but embassy seems safer imo

[tyven]

you could drop it at the embassy and still message the church that it is at the embassy

[Zetanio]

Yep.

[Moss]

TN (Tennessee) the Volunteer State

lol

I hope all Brits talk about the states like this, "Ah! You live in Georgia, the Peach State!" Great thread indeed.

[Dantrag]

You should list all the states and let us know what you call them

[Bardicrune]

I believe that phrase is actually on the Driver's License for TN.

[Dantrag]

Mine just says North Carolina :/

[Byrthnoth]

Hey this was quite fun haha, but the only identifiable drug appears to be some cold medicine. The rest could be vitamins.

Doesn't sound pressing, then, and you might not want to meet the person. I also vote for just giving it to the embassy.