A purse containing a $1-million worth of jewellery was on its way back to its owner in Canada on Tuesday after being forgotten on a bench in a town near San Francisco, police said.
Shahla Ghannadian had entrusted her $2 000 Louis Vuitton handbag and its precious contents to her husband after they stopped at an ice cream parlour in the city of Sausalito on Sunday, according to authorities.
He left it on a bench near a downtown parking lot, and the oversight was not noticed until the couple was back at their San Francisco hotel, said Sausalito police sergeant Kurtis Skoog.
The couple had travelled from Toronto to San Francisco for a daughter’s wedding.
The purse contained a Cartier watch, cash, and jewelry worn by the mother and the bride at the ceremony, said Skoog.
The gems included emeralds, pearls and diamonds, one of them a 12-carat stone, according to police.
Ghannadian and her husband had been squeezing in a bit of sightseeing before catching a flight back to Canada on Sunday night. Family members checked the bench, but the purse was gone.
Local resident John Suhroff walked into the police department the next day with the bag, its contents intact, Skoog said.
Suhroff handed the bag to a clerk, saying it held “either costume or junk jewellery,” Skoog said.
“We called the owner, and they were ecstatic,” said Skoog.
A family friend picked up the bag and was to take it to Ghannadian, according to police. The family indicated Suhroff is in line for a reward, but did not specify an amount, Skoog said. – AFP