The search is over for a sentimental belt buckle in Calgary.
Charlie Allen said her late father’s buckle was returned to her over the weekend. It was stolen from her parked truck in northwest Calgary on Nov. 14.
She said she received a Facebook message from a man who claimed to know the buckle’s whereabouts after seeing Global News coverage and watching it spread on social media. He said he didn’t steal it but would try to retrieve it from acquaintances who allegedly made him pay $200 for it.
Allen said she felt desperate, so when the man instructed her to meet at Cross Iron Mills, she did. Then, Allen called Calgary police and Airdrie RCMP who said they were concerned for her safety and advised her not to meet the man. She also informed mall security who stayed on the phone the whole time as she encountered the man.
Allen said she told him she only had $80 cash of the $200 he requested and asked to see the buckle to confirm its veracity.
“He pulled it from the front of his hoodie,” she said in an email to Global News. “I almost fainted. I started crying immediately.”
The man handed the buckle to her and she got the rest of the money from a bank machine to pay him, Allen said.
Police are investigating and declined to comment on Sunday.
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