Grande Prairie woman seeks owner of military medals found in stolen car
A woman in Grande Prairie, Alta. hopes social media will help lead her to the owner of a collection of lost war medals and pins.
On Sept. 13, Jacey Dickson's mother-in-law discovered her silver 2010 Dodge Journey had been stolen.
When the car was found this week, the family went to a local impound lot in Grande Prairie to take a look inside.
Hidden underneath a back seat was a plastic bag containing six medals, six pins, two badges and a set of dog tags with the name KL TAYLOR.
Several medals appear to be from the Second World War. Lapel badge pins displaying the numbers 45 and 50 signify the number of years a person has been a Legion member.
Dickson, a 24-year-old bookkeeper, said power tools, clothing, backpacks, drugs and drug accessories were also found in the car and that RCMP arrested a man for the theft.
Dickson said her mother-in-law is eager to figure out who the medals and tags belong to so that something good can come of the stressful incident.
"There is some man or woman out there that risked their life to earn them," Dickson said.
"And if it's somebody's grandfather or great-grandmother, it's probably one of the few things they have left to remind them of them."
CBC News has reached out to Grand Prairie RCMP for more information on the case.
Dickson contacted the Royal Canadian Legion branch in Grande Prairie, the Commissionaires — a private, not-for-profit company that employs thousands of former members of the military and the RCMP — and Library and Archives Canada.
So far, she has not been able to determine where they came from.
"I know that if somebody had taken my grandfather's medals, I would want them back more than anything," she said.
Maurie Pyrcz, president of the Royal Canadian Legion branch in Grande Prairie, told CBC News she was shocked to hear of the discovery.
"The fact that somebody's lost those medals is very heartbreaking," she said.
"We definitely want to make sure they get their medals back."
She said no members have reported stolen medals or pins to the branch.
Anyone with information about the medals may contact the Legion branch by calling 780-532-3110 or Dickson through Facebook.
