finders not always keepers ....What do you think?????

[imafishingnutt]

Pair learn finders not always keepers Mon Nov 26, 11:01 PM ET



SALEM, Ore. - A pair of Salem residents learned the hard way that finders are not always keepers. Lonnie Anderson, 47, and Jacqueline Shimmin, 37, were arrested last week failing to return a lost ring. Each faces a charge of first-degree aggravated theft of lost or mislaid property, said Sgt. Albert Gordon of the Salem Police Department.

ADVERTISEMENT

Oregon law states someone must make a reasonable attempt to return lost property to its rightful owner. The property may be kept if no one comes forward in 30 days.

"It's a universal law," Gordon said. "If you find something, you need to make some effort to return it to the rightful owner."

Gordon said a reasonable attempt would include posting an advertisement or bringing it to police. The law applies especially to property of high value or unique design, Gordon said.

The large, emerald-cut diamond ring was lost at a Salem grocery store on Nov. 15. That same day, a man and a woman brought a ring to the jewelry department at a Fred Meyer store, requesting an appraisal.

Fred Meyer employees said the appraisal would take a few days. The man and woman filled out paperwork but left with the ring, Gordon said.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 17, Nov. 18 and Nov. 19, a classified ad ran in the Statesman Journal newspaper: "LOST Large Diamond Ring: Generous Reward."

One woman connected the dots. She saw the ad and told detectives that she heard a story from a friend about two people finding a ring and taking it to a Fred Meyer store.

Detectives tracked down the person who placed the ad, then went to Fred Meyer. Detectives were convinced they were dealing with the same ring.

Detectives then found the pair who had requested the appraisal.

It didn't take long for them to admit they had the lost ring, Gordon said. He noted that they also acknowledged seeing the newspaper advertisement.

Police declined to say how much the ring was worth, but the charges Anderson and Shimmin face apply to items worth more than $10,000.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[syko]

So if you find a ring...are you supposed to scour every single paper out there? I know most everyone will
attempt to track down a class ring according to the school, but a ring gets found, and you're supposed to
put your life on hold and buy all the papers and search the internet for "lost ring"

""It's a universal law," Gordon said. "If you find something, you need to make some effort to return it to the rightful owner."
What kind of law is that? Who can afford to put out an ad stating "found diamond ring,with emeralds and the initial M "
might as well put one for "found, quarter at schoolyard,next to pulltab"
Some of you have taken stuff to the police station and have said it is kind of pointless

Maybe it was a dumb move to try and get it appraised locally that soon..but they found it,not stole it.
If the owner can prove it is their ring then..let it get returned, maybe throw a reward in.
But it makes no sense to charge the people that found it with fines or charges
It could be in a garbage can by now if not found.

The fool that lost it should be happy to even get it back, no need to fine someone,not like it had the address
to the owner stamped on the ring.

 

[Ima Swinger]

If I find a ring (and have) and it has no name in it or on it....it's mine.
Everything we find belongs to someone else, but I'm not hunting down the guy that lost the ring anymore than I'm going to hunt the guy down that lost the quarter or the little girl who lost her charm. Now, if there is a name on it, like on a class ring or the inside of any ring, then I think that making an effort is the right thing to do.......for me. Besides, it would be cool to see the look on their face when they got something back that they thought was gone forever. I would only require a refund of any expenses that I took in.....no reward.......sounds fair to me.
I never thought to put my name on the inside of my wedding band, until I started detecting. I still haven't, but do plan to. Even though adding my name guaranties nothing, it sure turns the odds of getting it returned to me in my favor. Hopefully from one of y'all.

I'm sure that if this law in their state is the real thing, they likely had no idea.
I don't sell the things I find because I enjoy just collecting them, so someone else can fight over my crap when I die.

That's Ima's take.
Keep-a-swingin'

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Syko, your comment caught my eye: "It could be in a garbage can by now if not found" I own a street sweeper company, so am very familiar with various parking lot and street sweepers. If a ring is lost in the parking lot, it could be in the garbage by now. Or maybe it is still in the parking lot, dragged around & ruined by a vacuum head on a wimpy vacuum truck that won't pick up a rock bigger than a peanut.

The density/weight of gold makes it hard for it to get caught in the vacuum flow of wimpy smaller shopping center vacuum truck-mounted sweepers. I once found an 18K white gold women's solitaire ring in a parking lot, with an empty crown that ............ if it had had a stone ... it would've been a 2 carot diamond! Believe me, I was on my hands and knees inspecting the grit and gravel in the area, trying to find the missing stone. Odds are, it was dragged around ad-nauseum, and the stone is loooong gone.

But in any case, yes, from a sweepers perspective, they are lucky the ring in the link was found at all!

 

[desertfox]

No comment, just glad the person who lost it got it back!

Desertfox

 

[allen]

I dont think they should be charged with any crime since none was commited.
Yes it was greedy of them to keep the ring but with todays economy been the
way it is, it makes people keep things that could be returned.
When I find a ring and if there are no intials or telltale marks on it of who the
owner is then it is mine and screw the police and their stinking laws.

 

[Diggit]

It's like every other law, it only applies if the arrogant folks in law enforcement and the even MORE arrogant prosecutors, not to be topped by judges that are out of touch with reality, FEEL like enforcing it.

 

[Monty]

I don't understand what is meant by "arrogant law enforcement folks"? Law enforcement people don't make the laws, it's the elected officials. Law enforcement people lmeely take a sworn oath to enforce the law. They do not have a choice to pick and choose which laws to enforce and which to ignore. How much enforcement to place on a given law is somewhat arbitrary, but is usually more lenient on a misdemeanor as opposed to no lienency at all on a felony. Whether the charges are filed and prosecuted is really up to the District Attorney or someone acting in such capacity. Monty

 

[Marshallepp]

DUE to personal experiences my faith in WV. Laws and those whom infource it is shaky at best. just mt 2 cents worth.

 

[Diggit]

I don't understand what is meant by "arrogant law enforcement folks"? Law enforcement people don't make the laws, it's the elected officials. Law enforcement people lmeely take a sworn oath to enforce the law. They do not have a choice to pick and choose which laws to enforce and which to ignore. How much enforcement to place on a given law is somewhat arbitrary, but is usually more lenient on a misdemeanor as opposed to no lienency at all on a felony. Whether the charges are filed and prosecuted is really up to the District Attorney or someone acting in such capacity. Monty

Well, since you are obviously a current or former cop, I wouldn't expect you to understand things from a "mere citizen's' point of view.

Cops are arrogant. I have met a LOT of them in my work, and they were ALL jerks. I never met one that wasn't a bully. "us against THEM", "The Brotherhood", etc. Ad nauseum.
They think they should be called "heroic" for doing their JOB.
I never personally had a "run in", but I saw them abuse people physically and throw their weight around just for the hell of it.
They think they are "special people" for doing a job. Like "accidentally" letting their badge comeout of their wallets, the little placards they put on their cars, the special license plates. They even like to use the words "cop"or "pd" or something similar on internet forum names to 'let people know they are special"

Maybe it was just my experience, but it was still an experience.

 

[ho2cultcha]

makes sense to me. if i find a ring in a store, i report it to lost/found and in case anyone reports it, i give them my contact info. if i find an old world cut diamond ring under 12" of soil on a riverbank, i'm not going to make an effort at all. common sense and courtesy, or not?

 

[Ammonhotep]

makes sense to me. if i find a ring in a store, i report it to lost/found and in case anyone reports it, i give them my contact info. if i find an old world cut diamond ring under 12" of soil on a riverbank, i'm not going to make an effort at all. common sense and courtesy, or not?

I agree. Due diligence won't break your back.

Some hunt the treasure, and others treasure the hunt.

 

[allen]

Actually police do have a choice to charge the person or not
and in this case they shoul not have been charged at all. If
the ring was recovered and returned to the rightful owner
then this case should be dropped and simply written off as a
instance of misunderstanding.
Yes to me 99% of law enforcement are asswads and like to
bully you because they have a silly looking badge and a gun.