John Hult

jhult@argusleader.com

A Garretson woman who lost a metal lockbox in Sioux Falls has gotten it back, one year after it disappeared on 41st Street.

Arlene Lerdal, 90, had taken the metal box last year to Bob’s Lock and Key, hoping to have a replacement key made.

The box contained two-dollar bills, one-dollar coins, rings, a string of pearls and a handful of paperwork. Lerdal had collected the coins and bills since she was little girl. Her father, a grocer, used to bring her the coins when someone would use them to make a purchase.

The box fell out of her Buick Enclave after her visit to the locksmith. She returned to the locksmith’s shop to see if anyone had turned it in, but no one had seen it.

A story about her lost valuables was published last year, after a woman named Jacqui Hartman posted Lerdal’s story on the Sioux Falls Online Rummage page on Facebook.

Several weeks ago, Lerdal got a call from a man who said he had found the lockbox. She initially agreed to meet him in Sioux Falls, but she couldn’t connect with him.

“I got a phone call from him, and he said he’d meet me in Garretson the next day,” Lerdal said.

Lost memories sought by 89-year-old Garretson woman

They met at the fire station for the hand-off. The box looked as though it had been in the road, and it was clear that someone had cut it open. Even so, Lerdal was ecstatic to look inside and see that everything was still there.

She gave the man a reward, she said, but didn’t get his name or ask him how he had found it. She doesn’t know if he found it on the street, if he had seen the story about it, or if he had just tracked her down using the paperwork inside the box.

“I was so excited about getting it back, I didn’t even ask him any questions,” Lerdal said.

Lerdal’s not particularly concerned about those details. What’s important to her is that her 85-year-old coin collection is back in her possession and intact. She called Argus Leader Media to report the return and to offer one hopeful message:

“There are some honest people in the world after all.”

John Hult is the Reader's Watchdog reporter for Argus Leader Media. Contact him with questions and concerns at 605-331-2301, 605-370-8617,twitter.com/ArgusJHult orFacebook.com/ArgusReadersWatchdog.