'It's meant to be with her'

Special necklace, charm take unlikely path back to local woman

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Jessica Peterson wears a special necklace – one that, for her, has a powerful connection to her late father.

From it hangs a charm, a figure striking a karate pose. Her father, George Leonard, is seen wearing it in a picture taken at a local karate school, standing in the same pose as the tiny figure on the charm.

George Leonard was wearing the charm at the time of his death in a 1995 motorcycle crash on Dean Parkway in Cranston. Jessica’s grandmother held onto it for several years before handing it down to her.

“She gave it to me, and it’s really all I wear,” Peterson said. “It’s very irreplaceable.”

There’s more to the charm, though. Peterson, 32, of Cranston, said wearing it gives her a palpable sense of her late father’s presence and protection. That feeling has only been deepened by the fact that it has found its way back to her on multiple occasions after being misplaced.

“I know it’s my dad … I truly believe he’s with me somehow,” she said. “I almost feel like I have a shield.”

The story of the charm’s latest return is the most remarkable.

Peterson lost the charm and chain during an Aug. 14 visit to Second to Sun tanning salon on Killingly Street in Johnston. Roughly two hours after departing, she realized the necklace was missing and returned to the salon but found it was not there.

She visited Johnston Police the next day, and officers began an investigation. That process included interviewing the involved parties, and checking the Rhode Island Precious Metals & Pawn Database on several occasions.

After a month went by, police got a break in the case. On Sept. 16, it was discovered that the gold necklace and charm had been sold to Fall River Pawn Brokers on Hartford Avenue in Providence for $150.

When police arrived, however, they found the necklace and charm were gone – having been shipped out the day before to be melted down for scrap.

Police Maj. Frank Levesque, who along with Detective Anthony Sasso investigated the case, said it seemed police had been a step too late. The initial disappointment faded, however, when the pawnbroker checked on the status of the necklace and charm.

“Some way, somehow, it wasn’t melted down yet,” Levesque said.

The necklace and charm were retrieved the next day, and Peterson was reunited with the irreplaceable reminder of her father. However unlikely its path back to her may seem, those involved said to them, it is clear some special force is at play.

“It just keeps ending up back,” she said. “I felt very empty without it.”

“There’s something special about this jewelry … it’s meant to be with her,” Levesque said.

The major, who said he personally felt drawn in by the case, praised Sasso’s work on the investigation. Bringing the matter to a happy conclusion, he said, was particularly meaningful.

“These are the types of cases that make you feel good … You remember why you became a police officer,” he said.

There has been an arrest in the case. Christina Betters, 33, of 61 Lookout Ave. in Johnston, was taken into custody on Sept. 18 and charged with larceny under $1,500. She was subsequently released with a Third District Court summons.

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