In this case they posted on Facebook to find the owner so likely it went viral locally and the local paper picked it up. Although these kind of articles were around long before social media.

Sometimes local news agencies will call the local police department and just ask "hey, anything happening?" It's possible the person called the police but then called them back to say "oh nm, the Home Depot workers found and returned it."

I used to do a lot of work for local municipalities, and on multiple occasions I'd be in the police dispatch area when someone from the local news would call and ask if there's any news.

But it's more likely what champ19nz said.