Page 16 - IAV Digital Magazine #512

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
'Christmas Angel' Returns
$250,000 Worth of
Jewelry To Florida Couple
By Ben Hooper
Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A Florida couple said they are grateful to a "Christmas angel" who found their bag containing $250,000 worth of jewelry and tracked them
down to return it.
Joe Fitzgerald of Pinellas County said he and his wife, Elif, attend- ed the
annual Denim and Diamonds charity event for Hands Across the Bay on Saturday,
and they were among the spon- sors of the event so they had a lot to pack up at the end of the night.
Fitzgerald said his trunk was full when they left the event, but the couple did not
realize that the rear hatch of their vehicle came open during tran- sit and the bag containing $250,000 worth of jewelry fell out onto the road.
The couple said they only discov-
ered the trunk was open when Elif Fitzgerald checked her phone and dis- covered she had dozens of missed calls telling her that a bag belonging to her had been found in the road.
The couple learned the bag had been found by a kind stranger.
"He's our Christmas angel," Joe
Fitzgerald told WFTS-TV. "He not only found it. He also called 911 and made sure we got our jewelry back."
Elif Fitzgerald said she was sur- prised by the man's honesty.
"I was completely shocked that they returned it," she said. "I have valu- able jewelry. It's an amazing feel- ing knowing there are people out there like that man."
The couple said they are now planning to meet up with the man to reward him for his good deed.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine