Getting your stolen car back is a rare win. But what if it comes with a thief’s personal storage unit inside? That’s what happened to Alaina Nieto when her vehicle was recovered stuffed with random junk—tools, garbage bags of clothes, even a stolen flute. But the weirdest find? A blue velvet bag containing a dead cat’s paw. Yep, someone out there is missing their dearly departed feline… and they probably have no idea where it ended up.

Police recovered Nieto’s car at an impound lot. That’s when she realized she wasn’t just getting her car back. She was inheriting a pile of stolen goods.

When your stolen car become’s a klepto’s storage unit

“Garbage bags of clothes and toilet paper and just tools and random things,” she said to Yahoo News. “What wasn’t in the car? There was a ton.”

Nieto did the responsible thing and called the police. She asked what to do with all this stuff. The answer? “That’s up to you.” Great. Super helpful.

She started sorting through the mystery haul. There was a flashlight, an iPod Touch, and dozens of tools. She even found Christmas ornaments. A lot of people would’ve just dumped it all. But then she saw a flute with a public school sticker. Instead of tossing it, Nieto turned detective.

Paying it forward

Nieto used her detective skills to track down the flute’s owner through social media. She finally got the flute back where it belonged. That’s when she noticed the blue velvet bag.

Inside was a paw print and a small bag of cat fur. Nieto knew it had to mean something. She found a barcode on the bag and called the vet listed on it. “And I called the animal hospital and I just said the pet name on it.” That’s how she found Kristina Loomis.

The paw’s original owner was beside herself. “I immediately broke out in tears,” Loomis said. Turns out, this wasn’t just a stolen car situation. A different car had been broken into, and inside that car? The last memento of a beloved cat named Emma. Loomis and her daughter thought Emma’s paw print was gone forever. Then, out of nowhere, Nieto called.

“To get this phone call out of the blue. It was amazing,” Loomis said. “She didn’t have to call us. She didn’t have to track us down… but she went the extra mile to make sure that they got back to us.”

The paraphernalia that often comes with recovered stolen cars

Police say this happens way more than people realize. Stolen cars often double as storage units for thieves. Some people get back laptops, tools, even weapons. One guy found a machete. Police told him he could keep it. Nieto said she just wanted to help. “It messes with your sense of security,” she said. “It makes you feel violated. And I just wanted to help anyone who I could.”