This post was submitted from a longtime resident who lost a valuable piece of jewelry that was returned to her when it turned up in an unlikely place. The employee who found it and returned it to her chose to remain anonymous, but has her heartfelt gratitude. He is just one example of the kind of people that provide services to St. Charles citizens every day.

“I wanted to take a moment to bring an incident to your attention. Jan 18th my husband and & were having dinner with friends in St. Charles. Afterwards we decided to head over to the Rox City Grill at the Hotel Baker.  The city was in the process of being hit with quite a snowstorm. Maybe the first snowfall of the season.  Snow was coming down hard and fast.  Plows and salt trucks were out keeping the roads safe.

When we returned home that evening I noticed a valuable and sentimental piece of jewelry was missing. Panicked, I hurried back to the parking lots where we parked and retraced my steps. The snow was too heavy to find anything. The next morning, the hunt started. We noticed the sidewalks were shoveled and lots cleaned. No luck. I kept retracing my steps daily and even brought a friend out with metal detectors and hunted. Still no luck.

I filed a police report for insurance purposes and just in case someone found it. Highly unlikely right? After months of keeping a watchful eye on a few ice piles and continuing my search it appeared there was not hope. After I returned from vacation and know all the snow had finally melted I gave it one more try. Still nothing. I had to make the dreaded call to the insurance company to start my claim and know that  the special gift was gone forever.

Yesterday, my cell phone rang.  Not knowing the number I dismissed it.  It rang again.  Knowing it was from St. Charles I figured it was from the high school and worried it was about my son.  I called the number back and it was the St. Charles Police Department.  My heart sunk thinking something terrible happened to my husband, son or even that my house was on fire. What else could it be?

The police officer asked me if I had filed a lost items report at any time. Shocked I said yes. He explained to me that a City employee had turned in an item and asked if I could give a description. I quickly responded that I had a photo of the item and would be right down! As I was scrolling through my thousands of photos on my phone and shaking uncontrollably I remembered that I sent a photo of the item to the police officer who took my report. They were able to locate the email and find the photo. Indeed it was my lost, valuable item!

It is an incredible feeling to know you have an honest and kind man working for you. This employee is my hero. He told me he found it out of the west side of town where all the snow is dumped after being hauled away from city lots. He was out walking the area in preparation of spring cleanup when he noticed something shiny on the ground. Covered in mud he took it back to the shop and rinsed if off. He noticed a 14k marking and knew someone may be missing this item and he took it to the Police Department. He could have very easily kept it for himself but knew the right thing to do was to turn it in.

I asked if it was okay to have the phone number of the person who turned it in so I could thank them. I called and thanked him. I even cried with happiness. He was pleased that it made it back to its rightful owner. I told him I wanted to thank him in person. He said that would be fine but he would not accept any reward. He said if his wife lost something valuable he hoped someone would do the same thing.

We have decided that it may be easiest if someday I popped by the office to say thank you. I am looking forward to shaking his hand and again saying thank you! I just want you to know you have a fine employee working for this amazing city. I have always been blessed with kind people and a loving community. St. Charles has been our home for 20 years and we look forward to many more wonderful years surrounded with kind and honest people like this one.

Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy email but it really is an incredible story.  A true needle in a haystack and a kind spirit.”

Stacey