Priceless family heirlooms accidentally donated to North Carolina charity; family hopeful to see items returned

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A local family hopes to reunite with priceless family heirlooms that accidentally got donated to a charity shop.

Tammy Nathan and her husband Matthew said it all started when they stopped at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore over the weekend to donate some furniture for a good cause. They just didn’t realize they also left something that could never be replaced.

The couple said they’ve always had hope in humanity, and it’s that hope that’s carried them through some of the hardest times, even after losing nearly everything 20 years ago.

“I know there’s good people out there,” Tammy said. “I think 95% of people are good.”

While serving in the U.S. Navy, Hurricane Ivan destroyed their home six weeks after moving to Pensacola, Florida.

“Really the only thing that we had left after that hurricane was the stuff from the top of that drawer,” Tammy said.

The couple—married for more than 30 years, and now retired from the military—says they’ve held onto a few special items tucked away in a drawer.

A jewelry armoire holding everything from family wedding bands over a century old, to old graduation and Navy promotion rings, to even diamond studded earrings. Tammy hoped to give the diamond earrings to her daughter on her wedding day, each with a label and a memory.

“It was just a collection of things to our past and when we realized we had inadvertently given them away, we thought well, maybe somebody just doesn’t know they have them,” Matthew said.

The couple says they mistakenly gave the heirlooms away on Friday, not realizing they were still inside a four-foot-tall, cherry armoire. Within a day, it was sold.

“Everyone I was talking to was saying things like, ‘You’re probably not going to get it back. They’re not the same. They’re not like they used to be,’” Tammy said. “If you open it up and they see those notes, they’ll know, ‘Gosh, who would have given this away?’”

For Tammy, it’s a hard lesson, but one that’s driven her to keep searching.

“I think that’s the important message is don’t give up on anything if it means something to you,” she said.

Tammy says having the jewelry returned wouldn’t just mean the world, but a reassurance of the hope she’s always held onto.

Both Tammy and Matthew told CBS 17 that the volunteers who work at the ReStore have been very helpful throughout this whole process. We reached out to Habitat for Humanity, but unfortunately, they don’t keep a record of who the items were sold to.

The manager says they plan to notify the family if these valuable items are ever returned.

Anyone who finds the missing jewelry or knows where it is located is asked to call the Raleigh Habitat For Humanity ReStore at 919-833-6768.

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