A previously unknown person who found and turned in a stolen wallet that police believe might provide a key to solving a March double homicide came forward to police Saturday afternoon.
Atlanta police made a public appeal Friday seeking the person who found a wallet stolen in an armed robbery in Virginia Highland shortly before two people were killed in Little Five Points nearby.
One of the robbery victims’ wallets was found by a man who turned it into a bartender at the North Highland Pub after finding an item in the wallet from the bar. The bartender returned it to the victim.
Joseph Hruska, 33, and Chaitanyalila Kelsey, 32, were killed in March in the Vortex tavern parking lot. The shooting happened shortly after two people were robbed in the nearby Virginia Highland neighborhood, also known for its bars.
“We feel those robberies are linked to the homicides,” Det. Vince Velazquez said Friday.
Two people, including a juvenile, have been arrested for the robberies but detectives believe at least two other people are involved, Velazquez said.
Detectives hope the man who found the wallet can show them where he found it so they can see if the arrested robbers were near enough to the Vortex to have tried to rob the two men who ended up dead, Velazquez said.
“What is important is where he found the wallet,” Velazquez said.
