A Canadian woman was reunited with her long-lost junior high ID after 40 years when it was found inside an 'old and crumbly purse' buried in man's yard, police say

The owner of the old school ID thought it was a mistake or that someone was "playing a joke on her" when police notified her that it was found.

• A woman from Canada was recently reunited with her long-lost junior high school identification card.
• The card was discovered inside an "old and crumbly purse" buried in a man's backyard, police said.
• The ID's owner couldn't believe it when police notified her that the card was found 40 years later.

Talk about a blast from the past. 

A woman from Canada was recently reunited with her long-lost junior high school identification card after it was discovered inside an "old and crumbly purse" buried in a man's backyard more than 40 years later, local police said.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said when it notified the owner of the 1981-1982 Wellington Junior Secondary School ID card — a woman only identified as Lori — she thought it was a mistake or that someone was "playing a joke on her."

"She was initially skeptical but after a picture of the ID was emailed to her, she laughed when she saw her ID from her junior high days," police said. 

A homeowner found the school ID in an old purse while he was in his backyard digging a fence post hole last month and later turned it over to police "not knowing if it was associated [with] a missing person case or not," authorities said. 

"I'm thinking the purse had probably been stolen and the thief had dumped it in the hole. Over the years, I probably just forgot about it," Lori was quoted saying in a police press release. 

Lori was reunited with the long-forgotten ID card in early April, according to authorities.