A briefcase containing lyrics for songs meant to be used in U2's 1981 album "October" has been returned to the group's lead singer Bono, 23 years after it was stolen at a Portland concert.
Cindy Harris of Washington state found the briefcase in the attic of a rental home in Tacoma, Washington, in 1981, but said she did not learn that it had been stolen until years later. She contacted the band recently.
Bono said he was thankful that the lyrics were returned to him instead of being sold for a large sum.
The return was an "act of grace", the singer said.
After the theft, Bono rewrote the lyrics for "October", an album that many fans regard as one of the Irish band's weakest. Only one song from "October", the title track, was featured in U2's "Best of 1980-1990" collection, as a hidden track at the end of the album.
Bono made appeals whenever he performed in Portland for any information on the whereabouts of the briefcase.