Originally Posted by
hoopics
Had a similar experience in Zurich. My mom had her pocket picked on the streetcar, and knew it immediately. He grabbed a small pack she carried with her passport, credit cards, and cash. We went to the closest police station and reported it. By the time we made it back to our room, there was a message from a different police station that someone had turned in the pack, with all contents undisturbed (including credit cards) except the cash. Honor among thieves and all that.
More likely the thief took the cash and decided that credit card fraud and illegitimate use/sale of the passport was not worth further criminal activity involving your mom and thus ditched the items that may result in being caught more easily by the police for theft.
Honest people quite ordinarily find items that were stolen and then ditched by thieves or that were lost; and such people frequently turn them into the police. Like the time when a homeless man in NYC turned in a lost wedding ring to the police -- a wedding ring with a value that exceeded the average NYPD precinct cop's salary.