South Dakota pitcher’s prosthetic arm found at recycler

Hanson discovered his backpack missing on May 3 and took to social media to vent his frustrations. The next day, the Sioux Falls Police Department recovered a backpack with some of the prosthetic’s attachments near Hanson’s house. At the same time, Hanson’s story became widely shared and people started fundraising for a replacement limb.

Nate Riddle and Tim Kachel were the workers who found Hanson’s prosthetic Monday night while working a shift picking out nonrecyclable items from the line.

They said they’ve seen just about everything mixed in with recyclables, but when Riddle picked out the prosthetic arm, he almost threw it away. Before he got the chance, Kachel stopped him.

“I recognized it instantly,” Kachel said, “I was jumping up and down screaming ‘Stop!’”

Kachel keeps up with news and remembered hearing Hanson’s story. He said he knew what the arm was as soon as he spotted it.

“I had no idea what was going on since he (Kachel) was freaking out, so I throw it over and he gives me the background,” Riddle said.

Riddle was skeptical about Kachel’s claims but let him turn the arm in to the front office. Then, on Tuesday morning, the pair’s line was paused and everybody was asked to go to the office. There they met Hanson for the first time.