NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. - "They could have cleaned me out period," said Carolyn Baker, "I would have nothing, nothing."

Baker didn't think she'd ever see her purse again after it was stolen from her shopping cart at the Sweetbay grocery store on Bayshore Road.

"I just reached around the stock to grab the onion and they had me," explained Baker.

She didn't see who did it, but two cashiers at the store did.

Detectives say the cashiers told them they saw a woman run out of the store with a purse and hand it over to a man waiting outside.

This is where mail carrier Gary comes in.

"I saw him and I thought, I hope he didn't steal that. It's odd that he's got a woman's bag," said Gary, who did not want to disclose his last name.

The man then hid near a dumpster with the purse.

"He was obviously not aware of what was in it. He was going through the items and putting them in his pocket," said Gary.

It didn't' seem right, so he snapped a picture of the man with his camera phone and called the Sheriff's Office.

Thanks to the cashiers description and Gary's cell phone picture, detectives tracked down the alleged purse snatching suspects, Jackyoln Crawford and George Jones.

Baker got her purse back, along with the cash she needed for her groceries.

She told WINK News, thank you is not enough, "It's actually a once in a lifetime thing that I got everything back."

Gary says he doesn't feel like a hero, "I'm just glad she got her stuff back."

If anything, he's hoping others will learn a lesson from his experience.

He said, "If you see something suspicious, you're usually right. Don't be afraid to question things because the next time it good be you."

As for the camera phone, he says it came in handy, "You can't argue with pictures."

His next piece of advice, if you see something suspicious, go ahead and take a picture.

"Everybody has got a cell phone, so take a picture," he laughed.