Men track down owner of lost jewelry

Three USF Holland employees went the extra mile to return the jewelry.

When Karen Scull lost several irreplaceable pieces of jewelry en route to a vacation with her husband, she came to terms with the fact that she may never see them again.

It came as quite a surprise when she returned home many days later to a message on her answering machine: Her lost treasures had been found.

“I found them at the Pilot gas station in North Lima,” said Gary Speelman, driver for USF Holland Trucking Co. out of North Lima. “They were on the ground, and I found them as I was walking into the front doors.”

Scull, 53, of Kirsey, Pa., said she thinks the jewelry — a watch with her wedding ring, a wedding band that belonged to her good friend, her mother’s 25th-wedding anniversary ring and her college class ring attached to the band — fell out of her purse when she and her husband, George, stopped at the gas station.

She said she didn’t even realize they were missing until they arrived at Red Feather Lakes, Colo., for vacation, because she thought they were packed away in a suitcase.

“I was angry at myself when I realized they were missing because I remembered seeing them the morning when we left” her brother-in-law’s house in Canfield. “I need to put them in a safer place,’’ Scull recalled saying to herself.

Speelman said he knew they were priceless pieces, and wanted nothing more than to get them back to the owner.

“I thought, if my mom or grandmother had lost their rings ... I’d want them to get it back,” he said. “I felt that she was constantly missing those items.”

Speelman brought the items back to USF Holland and gave them to Bob Pratt, operations supervisor, who made sure they were kept safe until an owner could be identified.

That same day, Jim Chandler, assistant supervisor for USF Holland, noticed Scull’s Indiana University of Pennsylvania class ring and thought he could help.

“I had my investigative mind running, and I knew from being on the Internet that I could probably get in contact with the university and get a name,” he said. “I contacted their alumni department, and they got back to me the following day.”

Chandler said the total amount of time it took to track down Scull was about a week and a half.

He and Speelman both said the thought of keeping the rings never crossed their minds.

“I knew if it was mine, I would hope that someone would go to that extent to try and track them down,” Chandler said.

Scull said she was elated when she listened to the message that her jewelry had been found.

“I called my husband inside and made him listen to the message,” she said. “I was like, ‘My rings! This is unbelievable.’”

Scull said she has much respect for all the men for doing the right thing and finding her when they could have easily kept the items.

“I’m so grateful, and it’s nice to know there are very concerned, caring people in this volatile world we live in,” she said. “I will forever be indebted to them.”