Police Make Dazzling Recovery of Stolen Bracelet

When a valuable diamond-studded ankle bracelet showed up in an Oregon pawn shop, a curious detective investigated and helped solve an Orange County burglary.

Eugene Police Det. Robert Holland had already grown suspicious as to why so much high-quality jewelry was appearing at a particular pawn shop.

Then the 67-diamond bracelet showed up.

“It stood out,” said Holland, who decided to investigate the man selling the valuables to the shop.

Holland put out an alert to police in the western United States, asking for any reports of the missing bracelet. He said he heard back from an Orange County police detective who described a recent burglary of jewelry and furniture.

The investigation led Holland to a rented storage locker and a safe deposit box in the Eugene area, where police found at least $100,000 worth of jewelry--”gorgeous stuff,” Holland said--and $15,000 worth of Louis XV-style furniture.

John B. McPherson Sr., 45, a California parolee with a long record of theft and burglary, was arrested by California authorities for parole violations and suspicion of burglary. The victim, Jane Lightner of Newport Beach, said Friday she was extremely grateful to Holland because the property wasn’t insured and she had been depressed since discovering the theft Nov. 14.

“I wanted to die right there,” she said. “For about a month, I’ve just been lost.”