Returned jewelry box restores Salley woman's faith during holiday season - Aiken Standard
Especially during the holidays, people tend to believe things happen for a reason. However, for one local hospice nurse from Salley, she calls what happened on Nov. 19 a "Christmas miracle."
Jan Delaigle lost a jewelry box containing about $10,000 in jewelry after inadvertently setting it on the trunk of her car in November. Two weeks later, a good Samaritan returned the box and all its contents to its rightful owner.
"This was truly a sign from God," said Jan Delaigle, whose jewelry box contained valuable rings, pendants, broaches and necklaces.
The items fell when she drove off from her State Park Road home, forgetting she had placed the box on the trunk.
Richard DeVinny, 36, also of Salley, found the jewelry box sitting in the middle of the road at the intersection of S.C. Highway 302 and State Park Road.
"I was raised to do the right thing," DeVinny said. "There was no question about returning this jewelry to its owner. I could tell this was valuable jewelry."
"He's my guardian angel," Delaigle said. "My good Samaritan. Richard DeVinny has restored my faith that there are still good people on this Earth."
Prized possessions
For Delaigle, the jewelry box contained more than just baseball cards or stamps – it contained some of her most prized possessions.
On that Saturday morning before Thanksgiving, Delaigle was on her way to have some jewelry appraised. She set the box on the trunk of her car, got in and promptly drove off, forgetting about the jewelry box entirely.
DeVinny was driving with his family on a trip to Aiken that same morning, when he spotted the box in the middle of the road.
"I'd forgotten my cellphone, and we were heading back home to get it when I saw the jewelry box lying in the middle of the road," he said. "If it weren't for turning around and going back for my cellphone, I'd have never seen it."
DeVinny could tell right away it wasn't just any jewelry box.
"This jewelry was valuable," he said. "You could tell this was more than just ordinary costume jewelry. This was something valuable, and these items were something special to somebody."
Delaigle continued, "It's unusual, yes. Some people collect baseball cards, I collect jewelry. I was on my way to the appraiser to have some pieces appraised. I'd had a lot on my mind. I was feeling down. The holidays were coming, and I was missing my son."
Delaigle's son, Phillip Osbon, died in a car accident in 2003.
In the jewelry box contained a Tree of Life pendant she'd purchased in tribute to her late son. It was precious to her, and it was missing, presumably lost.
"I miss him everyday, and Nov. 19 is also the anniversary of my Aunt Vi's passing, and we were very close," she said.
Now, returning the box to its rightful owner wasn't so simple. There were appraisal tags contained with some of the pieces of jewelry that had Delaigle's name written on it, but no means of contact.
"We were able to find a Jan Delaigle on Facebook, but we weren't sure it was the right person," said Madeline DeVinny, Richard's wife. "Plus, the Facebook page hadn't been updated in a couple years."
Madeline was able to start tracking down the owner by reaching out to Delaigle's daughter, Holly Ricketson, and through mutual friends they shared from school days.
"Richard sent Holly a friend request and a message through Facebook, but it wasn't answered right away as they weren't Facebook friends," she said. "We made phone calls to the appraisers listed on the tags, but no one would answer the phone. It's amazing we were able to connect with her."
Ricketson, who doesn't make it a practice of accepting friends requests from people she doesn't know, finally accepted the request and read the message.
"I get friend requests every day and never accept a friend requests from people I don't know," she said. "But I accepted Richard DeVinny's friend request. It was really amazing."
On Nov. 29, Ricketson contacted her mother, reading the contents of DeVinny's message.
"I said, 'Mom, there's a guy on Facebook that says he has something that belongs to you.' He wouldn't say exactly what he found, because he wasn't sure I was the right person ... It's just an amazing thing that they worked so hard to return the jewelry box to my mother," Ricketson said. "They are truly good people."
A happy reunion
Delaigle felt her life had been renewed when the DeVinnys returned the jewelry box to her.
"There had been so much evil and bad things affecting my life lately and I had really been down, and with the holidays coming, I really missed my son," she said. "But Richard, he's a new friend. He's a hero, and I want to see him recognized as a hero, my hero."
The DeVinnys weren't out for praise or publicity or even financial gain. They were simply doing the right thing.
"My faith is my life," DeVinny said. "My family is my life, and it was important to do the right thing. It's all about helping others. We might not be able to change the world, but we can start one person at a time."
