Ornament returned to family after 35 years with help from celebrity vicar
A mystery parcel was delivered to police in Northamptonshire containing a porcelain ornament that was stolen 35 years ago.
A porcelain ornament has been returned to its owners 35 years after it was stolen in a home burglary, thanks to social media and a celebrity vicar.
A mystery parcel delivered to a Northamptonshire Police station in Kettering contained the ornament, which depicts three girls, alongside a note saying it had been stolen in Finedon in 1986 from a family with the surname Collcutt.
The investigating officer, Pc Tamlin Rees, used the force’s social media account to issue an appeal and tagged the vicar of Finedon, the Rev Richard Coles, in a tweet.
His tweet reached the daughter of the original owners, Catherine Merry, who contacted police to claim the ornament on her parents’ behalf, as they had both died in the 35 years it was missing.
She said: “The response has been truly overwhelming and also heart-warming – my parents would be astonished.
“Someone in the village heard about the appeal first and asked if it could be me, at the same time as Rev Coles had tweeted about going to school with my brother, which my son also saw.
“Seeing the ornament again was extraordinary, it was like going back in time to being a little girl again. Our family owes a massive thank you to Tamlin, he made the whole thing a great experience and we really appreciate it.”
“It was very rewarding to be able to hand over the ornament after it having been missing for so long, and to see how happy Catherine was, especially in recounting her memories around the time when the ornament was in her family home before it was stolen.”
