NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A search for a locket containing remains of man’s best friend, resulted in a new friendship being born.
“It was so great. It was amazing, it was amazing,” said Lisa Clayton while standing on the beach behind the Thirsty Camel in Norfolk’s Ocean View. “It’s crazy.”
At the beginning of the week, Lisa, who lives in Ocean View, was worried her 17-year-old granddaughter’s special locket was gone forever.
Her granddaughter Victoria first made her aware of the issue last Saturday night, after a day spent riding jet skis and soaking up the sun.
“Yeah it was a good day,” Clayton said. “However later that night when I was at dinner, my granddaughter texted me and said that she didn’t have her locket and that she took it off and put it in a pocket of the beach chair.”
The locket, contained the ashes of a dog named “Boss,” according to Clayton, a pit bull she described as Victoria’s childhood “best friend.” She said her granddaughter has worn the jewelry constantly since the dog passed several years back.
“Oh my heart sank and I was like ‘oh gosh,’ I was pretty sure … it’s not going to be in [the beach chair pocket],” Clayton said recalling the conversation.
When it wasn’t, her mind remembered the beachcomber with a metal detector she had seen on the beach when they were there earlier
In a Facebook post she said was “a shot in the dark” she asked if someone may have known who it was and if they found it.
“I was blown away with the response,” Clayton said.
By Monday, a person had shared the post with Danny Roberts. Roberts metal detects as a hobby, and said while he wasn’t at Ocean View that day, the story touched his heart.
“I at least wanted the opportunity to try for it,” Roberts said.
Since watching the 1985 movie, The Goonies, Roberts indicated he has been looking to come across his own treasure.
“I kind of stuck with that mindset that I was going to come across something some day that was going to satisfy all my needs,” Roberts laughed.
Monday, Clayton and Roberts met for the first time. Clayton explained where they had been sitting, and Roberts began to work.
“I wasn’t very confident at all,” Clayton explained.
Roberts explained the rain chased him off the beach just as he began. On Tuesday he returned, and within 15 minutes his AT Pro started dinging.
“I heard a signal I would not have checked,” Roberts said. “Sterling Silver usually dings at a higher tone … but I scooped it anyway. On the first scoop there was the pendent!”
Roberts said he was instantly overjoyed.
“I actually dropped to my knees and just started thanking God for being the one chosen to find it and how soon the find was. Kind of connected me that this was divine,” Roberts explained.
He immediately texted Clayton, who didn’t believe it at first.
“I was like ‘You are kidding me? It happened!'”
Clayton said her granddaughter was most excited and will not be taking her locket to the beach anytime soon. Clayton said her biggest takeaway, is that when she needs her community, they will show up for her.
In the case of the treasure hunter? He may not be rich financially, but those needs … certainly met.
“I as a stranger made a difference in someone else’s life … goes beyond just me happy I found a piece of treasure,” Roberts said. “This is an everlasting story that someone will always remember.”
