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Stella Tulli of Clifton was near the children’s playground at Third Ward Park in Passaic on Thursday when she lost her wallet.
“I had maybe $40 in there, along with various credit cards and medical insurance cards for me and my children,” she said.
Also in the Michael Kors clutch is the late Viviana Tulli’s driver’s license.
“I have had her license with me since.....,” Tulli said, trailing off.
Viviana Tulli, 21, was killed by her ex-boyfriend, David Goodell, on Aug. 30, 2010.
That day was the sisters’ mother’s birthday. It was also the same day, in a tragic coincidence, that their father was laid off from his job.
Out on parole, ex-con Goodell was transitioning from prison at a halfway house in Newark when he faked a seizure and escaped from the hospital he was taken to.
Goodell was sentenced earlier to more than two years in state prison for assaulting a police officer and threatening to kill a woman he was dating. He was paroled after barely five months.
Hours after fleeing the hospital, Goodell strangled Viviana in her car before deliberately ramming it head-on into a police cruiser in Ridgefield during a pursuit with her body in the front seat.
The killing brought to light serious problems with New Jersey’s halfway house system, launching a battle between legislators and then- Gov. Chris Christie.
Prosecutors convinced Goodell to plead guilty to murder in June 2013, sparing the Tullis the torment of a trial. He was sentenced later that year and must remain in state prison until 2050 before he’ll be eligible for release.
The sentencing judge in Hackensack later that year told him he had “no conscience, no remorse, no soul.”
Stella Tulli has her memories of Vivi. But that one cherished memento is missing.
“[The heck with] the wallet and the cash," Tulli said. "The most important thing to me is Vivi’s license.
“Please, please return it to me," she said in a public plea. "If you tossed it, just let me know where I can find it.
"It may not mean much to you, but it means the world to me.”
IF YOU FIND the wallet, or know where it is, please text or call: (973) 356-2772.
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