The case of the stolen gym bag filled with $1.5 million in gems and jewelry took an odd twist Saturday when a Vista man turned them over to the owner, saying he found them outside his motorcycle shop earlier in the week.

Matt Wilson called The San Diego Union-Tribune Saturday afternoon asking to be put in touch with the theft victim, Charles Lawrence, so he could hand over the bag containing display trays of estate-type rings, including a large sapphire surrounded by diamonds, a diamond tennis bracelet, and other items.

Lawrence, reached by phone, reacted to the news of the jewelry recovery with astonishment.

“Oh my God! Oh my God!” he exclaimed. “I’m in shock.”


He went to Wilson’s shop and took possession of the bag, finding everything intact, Wilson said.

Lawrence reported to the Sheriff’s Department on Jan. 10 the loss of hundreds of uninsured rings, bracelets, gemstones and other items, many of which he had taken on consignment to sell for a Tustin woman. He said much of the jewelry was rare, of museum quality, and some was of Art Deco design. He estimated their value at $1.5 million to $2 million.

He had locked the bag into his car trunk outside his Vista home the night before, with plans to try to sell the jewelry to various dealers in Orange County the next day. But that morning he found his car alarm disarmed, his car back seat pulled away, and the bag missing.

Lawrence operates Charles & Co. Estate and Fine Jewelry and said he has been in the jewelry business for 50 years, with a store in Bangkok, Thailand.


Wilson said he has worked in Oregon and Vista as a private investigator and has owned Motorcycles Plus on South Santa Fe in Vista for about nine months.

He was outside his shop Tuesday night and noticed a plaid gym bag next to a locked Dumpster. He and a friend looked in the bag and saw trays of rings.

“We brought it inside. I don’t know much about jewelry — I didn’t know if it was real, or costume jewelry,” Wilson said. He said he took it to two jewelers, who assured him the gemstones were real.

After finding the bag, Wilson said, he found another gemstone and two rings in the mud another night.


“Did people drop the stuff? Could there be a trail of them?” Wilson asked.

He checked the Internet and Craigslist advertising website, but saw no reference to a loss of valuables. Then, he said, his friend showed him a Union-Tribune story about the theft, and he called the newspaper and the Sheriff’s Department.

Lawrence had said he would offer a reward of $5,000 to $10,000 in diamonds to whoever returned the stolen goods. Wilson said he wasn’t looking for any reward.

“As long as he got his stuff, that’s great,” Wilson said. “The whole thing is weird. How did someone break into the car and then it was put near the Dumpster. ... Nothing is gone. Why put it there?”


Lawrence said he notified the sheriff’s detective assigned to the case that his bag was recovered, and he was trying to reach his Tustin client to tell her the good news.

“It’s a good story with a good ending,” Lawrence said. “Everybody was doing what they should be doing. Everybody was honest.”

He added, “I’m going to sleep well tonight.”

pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com