Stolen watch is recovered after 53 years, and more

last updated 8 January 2015

Stolen watch is recovered after 53 years

The gold watch Ed Grigor’s aunt gave him in 1958 as a high school graduation present was stolen the next year while Grigor served in the Navy. He figured he’d never see it again, until last month, when he got a call from Las Vegas. Pat Herrick had found the timepiece among the possessions of her late mother, who had run a Virginia Beach guest house for sailors, and saw Grigor’s name etched on the back. The thief had evidently pawned the watch for rent. After an Internet search, Herrick returned the watch to Grigor, who has nicknamed it “the Time Traveler.”

John Feathers's cartographical treasure trove

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A house slated for demolition in Mount Washington, Calif., has yielded a priceless collection of tens of thousands of maps. Real estate agent Matthew Greenberg discovered the cartographical treasure upon the death of the house’s occupant, John Feathers. Neighbors had no inkling of Feathers’s collection, which includes a 1592 map of Europe and a rare “paved road” map of the U.S. from 1918. The maps will turn the Los Angeles Central Library into one of the largest map archives in the U.S. “This dwarfs our collection,” said librarian Glen Creason, “and we’ve been collecting for 100 years.”

Puppies save missing child

Around 150 rescuers combed the woods of Hackleburg, Ala., last week searching for Kyle Camp, a 10-year-old boy with Down syndrome who had gone missing. But it was a pack of four puppies that found Kyle first, keeping him warm overnight as the search continued. The next day, the mother of the mixed-breed litter led local man Jamie Swinney to the frightened child and the four pups. “Those puppies kept him company, they kept him warm and comfortable,” said Swinney. “We don’t know what would have happened to him had the puppies not been with him.”