Return of purse ‘renews’ faith of Las Vegas shooting survivor

It can be seen at her side in photos of her posing in front of Route 91 Harvest festival signage, and in pictures at the Bellagio gardens, the strap peeks through.

The compact brown bag, big enough to carry only necessities — money, identification — is unremarkable in its features.

But when an FBI agent returned it to her weeks after it was lost in the scramble and chaos of the Oct. 1 shooting, its meaning grew immensely.

“It renewed my faith in the good of people,” Heaton told the Review-Journal Wednesday. “I spend my life looking for the positive in everything. My way of staying strong has been to focus on the positive things people did for each other immediately after.”

‘We were having a ball’

Heaton and John Munroe, her boyfriend of about four months, planned their trip to Las Vegas around the country music festival.

They flew in Thursday night, spent Friday listening and dancing to Eric Church, returned to the venue a few times on Saturday, and after going to a Vegas Golden Knights game on Sunday, made their way back to Route 91 to catch Jason Aldean, the final act.

“We were having a ball,” the Millbrook, Ontario, resident said. “From the minute we got there, we were having the time of our life, taking silly pictures. And all of a sudden, all hell broke loose.”

Like many others, Heaton said she thought the first shots were firecrackers.

But Munroe knew it was something else.

“John knew instantly we had to get out of there,” Heaton said.

They didn’t follow the majority of other people who ran toward the exits. Instead they took off in the other direction toward an area where portable toilets were set up.

“When we got there, we came to a 10-foot security fence,” she said. “My heart sunk. I couldn’t climb it.”

Munroe sprung into action, hoisting Heaton into the air and catapulting her over the fence. He helped about five or six others in the same way.

“It was a tough, hard, fall,” Heaton said. “I hurt myself pretty badly when I got over and landed.”

Munroe was worried she might have punctured a lung or cracked a rib, but they kept moving.

At one point along their three-hour journey back to the Bellagio, they ended up in an underground parking garage.

“I kind of collapsed,” Heaton said, adding that two off-duty officers were nearby and found Heaton some oxygen.

It was in the parking facility that she realized she didn’t have her purse.

“I couldn’t care less about it,” Heaton said, not knowing if she dropped it in the venue, or on their long trek back. “Losing $400 to $500 is nothing in comparison to what was happening there. That stuff is replaceable.”

Phone call surprise

Safely back in their hotel room, with a SWAT team posted on hotel grounds, Heaton said she couldn’t believe the news reports, each one worse than the last.

The purse, and its contents, continued to lose significance. Heaton’s passport was in her hotel room, and she was able to use that to board her 3:30 p.m. flight the next day.

“When we left the Bellagio, they asked if we needed anything, and we said no, but I told them I lost my purse,” Heaton said. “I truly never believed I would see it again.”

That was until she got a call from FBI agent E.J. McEwen, who phoned her on Oct. 16.

“It was a little overwhelming when he said who he was,” Heaton said. “My instant thought was that he was trying to get a recount of the evening. So when he said he had my purse, I was really shocked.”

McEwen reviewed with her everything that was in the purse.

One item was a slot machine voucher worth $70. He cashed it out for her.

“He said it wouldn’t be any good to you in Canada,” Heaton said. “With everything they’ve got going on, for him to take the time to trace the purse, and the ticket, and to cash it in, that really blew my mind.”

In a statement to the Review-Journal, McEwen said he didn’t think twice about it.

“After all she had been through, this was the least I could do for her,” he said.

Sandra Breault, spokeswoman for the FBI in Las Vegas, said 5,635 items had been returned to concertgoers as of Wednesday evening. She said she couldn’t give a number on the items that have not been claimed or are being held by authorities.

Meanwhile, in Millbrook, Heaton is trying to get back to normal day-to-day life.

She and Munroe eased back into concert-going last Friday by attending a show put on by the Trews, a Canadian rock band.

“We refuse to let this guy (the shooter), stop us from enjoying ourselves,” Heaton said. “We’re not going to let this guy win.”

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.