A man who decided to empty the priceless contents of a safe deposit box onto the dining room table of an apartment rental, then leave the rental with the items packed in a grocery bag and hidden under a backpack, told police all the items were missing after he returned from a visit with his son.
The bizarre incident was reported to police around 5:45 p.m. on Dec. 25 by a 75-year- old man who said he was renting a unit in the 300 block of Circle Avenue during the holiday season. For unknown reasons, the man emptied several precious items from his safe deposit box on Dec. 24 and left to visit his son.
Among the items left in the grocery bag were family birth certificates, baptismal certificates, wedding documents, a Ziploc bag full of costume jewelry, a 2-inch brass paperweight from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, and a 1,000-year-old dagger and brass sheath.
The man said he was in Chicago most of the day on Dec. 24 and noticed the items were missing at 8:30 a.m. the following day.
The Airbnb host said their cleaning person looked for the items but did not find them.
This information was obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.
