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Skokie Police Officer Mary Escobedo says it was her personal mission to return the soldier's belongings to his loved ones.
SKOKIE, Ill. -- Officer Mary Escobedo was called to a Skokie warehouse last month to investigate the reported theft of some copper piping. But instead of a copper culprit, she uncovered a mystery.
Something caught Escobedo's eye in the warehouse in the 3600 block of Chase Avenue on Nov. 16. Military fatigues, ammunition and a bulletproof vest looked out of the place to the former U.S. military reservist, so she kept digging.
Read the original story on NBCChicago.com
She found personal effects, love letters and family photos, as well as an owner's name: Joshua Conyer of the U.S. Air Force.
“It was important when I found that stuff to make sure that it got back to the family," Escobedo said. "It became a personal quest.”
Finding family
Police had little to go on right away. They eventually learned Conyer had died suddenly of a brain aneurysm three years ago, and the mover responsible for shipping his belongings across the country had gone out of business.
With the help of the internet, they found Conyer's widow. "It was so nice when we finally told her some of the stuff that we had," Escobedo said. "I think she was in tears."
Escobedo considers it a holiday miracle.
The warehouse was in the process of getting cleaned out and prepped for demolition. If it hadn’t been for the copper theft, it’s likely Conyer’s trove of personal treasures would be in a landfill somewhere.
“It was almost as if Joshua had led us there to find that stuff,” she said.
'Looked like garbage'
David Low, who owns the land where the warehouse and several other buildings are located, said he noticed all of Conyer’s belongings piled around the warehouse but didn’t pay much attention to them.
“It looked like garbage,” Low said. "There were just boxes of it all strewn everywhere.”
In the end, he helped in their rescue. Low called police after he discovered someone had been stealing copper piping out of this warehouse.
“It was just happenstance that we stumbled upon this," he said.
On Saturday, Conyer’s mother drove in from central Indiana and retrieved her son’s belongings.
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For the love of anything pure, there is record unemployment in this country. Please hire some middle school student to write your articles. Anything is better than this dribble.
The amount of disrespect to the body and personal effects of American soldiers killed in action is incredible. And disgusting. Last week, news reported that American soldier body parts were dumped in landfills. Today, a KIA soldier's personal effects were discovered by chance; they were just dumped and forgotten somewhere in a warehouse.
No body gives damn. No body cares. Just make your god damn war profits.
FatCat- He was not KIA, but he did serve and his belongings should have been respected enough for the movers to finish the job they were hired (and probably PAID upfront!!) to do. The previous owner of the shipping company should be brought up on charges of theft. The shipping company should be ashamed of themselves!!
It's hard to understand much of anything about the circumstances here. This Airman died of an aneurysm. How? Was it service-related? What else do we know about this gentleman who seems to have served his country and then been forgotten by everyone except his wife and his mother? Every life has a story.
@SleepyHed
People with your attitude are extremely disgusting.
When my husband died (Navy Corpsman with Marine Corp) his personal affects were lost. I would have liked to have his wallet, ID's, pics, the things he kept in there (I had never looked). These little things seem so important when you have nothing left of the person.
When sweet memories yearn for something tangible, something your fingers can touch, your eyes to capture, and your heart to embrace, like "his wallet, ID's, pics, the things he kept in there."
"These little things seem so important when you have nothing left of the person" but the fond memories, the broken dreams, and the love that could have been eternal.
If you never looked why would they be that important to you - simply because they were important to him? How about the old HS sweetheart, forgotten receipts, old Subway sandwich stamps?
I never looked into his wallet out of respect for his privacy. The things he would have kept in there would have been important to him, and therefore me. Even a few receipts would have perhaps helped me picture his last few days. What may seem like nothing to others makes at least a small dent in an overwhelming emptiness.--- Thanks for understanding FatCat!
My memories of multiple moves during my time in the military make me wonder if there might be anything of mine in that warehouse. While I never lost an entire shipment most of the contracted movers were less than stellar, and I lost multiple items often. I am glad the widow of this lost airman finally got; or will soon receive his things as I am sure he would want her to have them. Kudos to the sharp Police Officer Mary Escobedo, and thank you for not just shrugging it off and moving on.
Wow, good eye little lady. I hope the family can find some peace.
I too, am of a military family with multiple moves around the planet and I have so little of anything of my family - our soldiers, our fellow citizens need to be treated better, they lay down their lives, bleed red for their country - everyone involved in moving, finding, distributing the effects of our fallen citizens need to be reminded of that, and held accountable for their (in)actions - Thank the Lord that a woman was on the job and found the articles, and cared enough (typical of a woman) to dig hard to follow thru. The Lord's blessings on you and your family Ms. Escobedo
Major league lucky. It's all good.