
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 4, 1994                   TAG: 9408040076
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HE FOUND A TREASURE; NOW HE'S HUNTING FOR FEE

An appraiser did not claim "finders keepers" when he happened across a diamond-and-ruby-studded necklace, reputedly worth $450,000, that was left in the home of the late heiress Marian Bradley Via.

But he is claiming a 10 percent finder's fee.

John W. Elkins, who was hired to appraise Via's furniture and personal property after she died last year, has filed a lawsuit in Roanoke Circuit Court seeking $75,000 from the estate of the city's most generous multimillionaire. Via was known for donating millions to the Roanoke Valley's educational, social service and arts institutions.

Elkins contends that Roanoke lawyer John Rocovich, the executor of Via's estate, has refused to pay both the finder's fee and the standard cost of Elkins' appraisal. "They just stonewalled me on all of it," he said Wednesday.

A judge or jury may ultimately decide a key issue in the case: Did Elkins open a cabinet drawer and find a half-million-dollar piece of jewelry, or worthless junk?

According to the lawsuit, Rocovich told Elkins that all expensive jewelry had been removed from the Roanoke County house before the appraisal began. When told of the necklace, the suit states, Rocovich said it was "of inconsequential value because Mrs. Via would never store valuable jewelry in a drawer."

"They must have thought it was a paste copy, because it was just lying around," Elkins said. "But rather than steal from them, I gave them my honest opinion" - that the necklace was worth at least $450,000.

Elkins said he gave the necklace to Rocovich at the time of the appraisal, more than a year ago, and has since seen neither it nor his money. Rocovich was out of town and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The lawsuit states that in addition to his regular fee, Elkins is entitled to a 10 percent finder's fee for discovering an expensive item thought to be of no value by the owner.

"I think they would have just given it to a housekeeper," he said, "because they thought it was junk."

Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by CNB