ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 2, 1997 TAG: 9703030065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Washington Post
WHEN JEANNA DODD opened the cream of asparagus soup, five rings, a bracelet, a necklace and a watch poured out.
Irene was up early Saturday morning reading the paper when, suddenly, she started to make a loud whooping noise. Her husband, Frank, ran to her, thinking perhaps she had found the obituary of some close friend, but then his wife blurted out, ``This is my jewelry.''
The cream of asparagus mystery was solved.
The Washington-area couple are the owners of a fake Campbell's soup can full of jewelry that a young, unemployed Centreville, Va., woman picked up late last month from a local food bank. The couple asked that their last name not be used, citing safety concerns and a previous break-in at their home.
The return of the valuables took place Saturday morning at the Fair Oaks, Va., police station, after the couple provided photographs of the five rings, bracelet and necklace and a description of the Rolex watch that were in the small safe disguised as a can. The goods were worth about $7,000.
``There was a tinge of disappointment when I realized it was really theirs,'' said Jeanna Dodd, who had told The Washington Post on Friday of her find the night before, hoping to give the rightful owners a chance to claim the jewelry before she sold it for some much-needed cash.
``But as soon as I saw their faces,'' Dodd said, ``I was glad I did it.''
The couple, both 58, gave Dodd $1,000 and a set of gold earrings, which Frank said he realizes is only a fraction of what Dodd deserves for her noble act.
``It is refreshing to see this level of honesty,'' he said. ``Here is a person in real need who did the right thing.''
The couple hadn't even known that their secret safe was missing and said they still can't figure out how it ended up at the charity pantry. The couple bought the safe several years ago, and Irene filled it with jewelry her husband had brought back to her in the early 1970s from Vietnam, where he served in the Air Force.
One possibility, they said, is that a house guest may have given the can away during a neighborhood food drive.
The couple looked up Dodd's number and called her.
The jewelry was easy to identify. There were several unusual pieces, including a coiled serpent ring with jade in the mouth and rubies in the eyes. With the exception of the watch, none of the pieces of jewelry had great monetary value, but Frank said they were worth a great deal to him.
``These pieces had cherished memories for us,'' he said.
Dodd was temporarily unemployed and low on money when she went to the food bank Feb. 20. Instead of just making a pickup, she volunteered for a couple of hours in return for soup, eggs, milk, juice and linguine.
When she reached for the Campbell's cream of asparagus Thursday night, she had a tough time opening it. Finally, the top popped off, and the jewelry pouch spilled out.
Dodd's parents, Jane and Paul Dodd, said they aren't surprised that their daughter decided to make an effort to give the jewelry back.
``Money does not mean nearly as much to Jeanna as it does to a lot of other people,'' said Paul Dodd, an Army chaplain in San Antonio. ``She has some pretty remarkable values for a 24-year-old.''
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Jeanna Dodd of Centreville, Va., found jewels, notby CNBsoup, in a can from a food bank.