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UPDATE: Owner of mysterious prosthetic hand comes forward

KTNV receives prison letter from the owner
The owner of a mysterious prosthetic hand that showed up in a valley pawn shop has finally come forward
The owner of a mysterious prosthetic hand that showed up in a valley pawn shop has finally come forward
The owner of a mysterious prosthetic hand that showed up in a valley pawn shop has finally come forward
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of a mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop has been identified
The owner of mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop in 2018 has been identified as Chuck "Charles" Norris
The owner of mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop in 2018 has been identified as Chuck "Charles" Norris
The owner of mysterious mechanical hand that showed up in a Las Vegas pawn shop in 2018 has been identified as Chuck "Charles" Norris
Posted at 12:59 PM, Feb 26, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-27 02:31:17-05

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — There is finally some resolution to an unusual situation that 13 Action News first reported in July 2018 involving a mechanical hand, a Good Samaritan, and an anonymous tipster.

13 Investigates received a letter from High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, Nevada, about 40 miles from Las Vegas.

The letter came from an inmate by the name of Charles Norris, or, as it happens, Chuck Norris.

But this story is far from any Hollywood tale.

In his letter, Norris goes on to describe how he heard from a friend that his hand was featured in story on 13 Action News in July 2018.

In that original story, a man by the name of Reggie Wing had spotted the hand in a pawn shop on East Charleston Boulevard while he was searching for some tools.

Wing said store staff told him a man with a hook for a right hand had pawned the device but when he returned he did not have enough money, so the item went up for sale.

"That's somebody's hand," said Wing.

Wing purchased the hand, but the mystery deepened when it became clear that returning the hand to the owner could be easier said than done and Wing turned to 13 Action News to get the word out.

13 Investigates did receive an anonymous tip which leads us to a mobile home park near Charleston Boulevard and Mojave weeks after the story aired.

The trail went cold soon after.

That was until the letter arrived from High Desert State Prison this month and it provided a name and a phone number to call.

"When you called me, I could not believe it," said Sami Norris, Chuck's younger sister.

Sami Norris said Chuck's situation could have been anyone's story.

He lost his hand in an industrial mishap on February 18, 2000.

Chuck was working in a shop, polishing slot machine parts when a massive buffer malfunctioned and severed Chuck's right hand.

Soon after, he was fitted with a specialized Touch Bionics iLimb hand.

"These are tens of thousands of dollars and he was blessed to have gotten one," said Sami Norris.

Sami said as the years went on, Chuck experienced health problems, combined with alcohol abuse and eventually wound up addicted to the pain pills from his mishap.

Chuck also experienced the loss of his father and Sami said he was never the same.

"I just hate that my brother had to go through this by himself, he did not reach out to me," said Sami Norris.

Chuck would pawn his prosthetic hand in the summer of 2018.

Chuck also ran into legal problems after an attempted battery with substantial bodily harm for threatening a teen girl with a knife at a bus stop.

Chuck was sent to prison and may be released sometime in the latter part of 2019.

"Hopefully he'll come out and maybe through all of this find the biggest blessing because it's truly a blessing," said Sami Norris.

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