C :: Sorted List - Why Value Of Void Pointer Change

I have a the following in a header file.

Code:

struct SortedList{
void * data;
struct SortedList * next;
struct SortedList * previous;
int (*compareFunc)(void *, void *);
void (*destructor)(void *);

[Code] ....

In a .c file, I implemented the SLCreate function.

Code:
SortedListPtr SLCreate(CompareFuncT cf, DestructFuncT df){
struct SortedList item;
item.data = NULL;
item.next = (struct SortedList *) malloc(sizeof(struct SortedList));

[Code] ....

In main.c, I try to do the following:

Code:
SortedListPtr list = SLCreate(&compareInts, &destroy);

A bunch other code that does not alter list or it's contents at all.

struct SortedList item = (*list);
void * data = item.data;
if (data != NULL) {
printf(Why did data become not null???
"); }

How come my variable data became not null anymore when I haven't altered it at all....