Stolen iPhone found

My iPhone was stolen and I reported this to the police, Apple etc. My sisters phone number was put on the Lock Screen for contact if the phone was found.

I received an email from apple (find my phone) saying my iPhone had been found in Algeria.

The same day my sister received a message from someone saying that they had bought the phone and reported it to the police once they noticed it was stolen.

Apparently the police have advised the person to drop off the phone at the nearest Apple shop.

my sister said that she would pass the persons details to me to help me get the phone back, but I am dubious about contacting this person (in case this is part of a scam to get my phone number etc) it seems legit but is this normal for the police to advise to drop the phone into Apple? What should my next steps be?