A Crown Point woman awaiting the return of her angel discovered she has a few more angels in her neighbors.
Carol Curiel said she and her family returned home May 28 from a Memorial Day weekend trip to find a precious artifact – an angel statue – gone from their back yard. The family erected the statue as a memorial to a family member who died several years ago.
The concrete pedestal used for the statue was still there, but the angel — also made of concrete — was nowhere to be found.
“It was just gone,” Curiel said. “We looked in the pond, we looked everywhere in the neighborhood. I was hoping the kids moved it somewhere.”
Curiel said she never called the police because she figured it couldn’t have gotten far. She does follow a social media page that acts as sort of a lost-and-found for items, however, and though she said she’s a “private person,” she allowed a friend, Donna Velgos, to post a picture of the missing statue along with a note that Curiel is offering a reward for its return. People post pictures of things they’ve lost all the time, so she hoped people in her subdivision would be on the lookout for it.
Not only are they looking out for it, but Curiel’s neighbors are looking out for her. She said three of them gave her an additional money for the reward fund.
“I can’t imagine the pain of losing a (family member), then to have someone steal such a beautiful memorial,” Velgos said. “I’m saddened by the heartlessness of people, and I just pray the thief either returns the statue or leads the Curiels to its location. They are good people and don’t deserve this pain.”
The neighbors’ kindness has touched Curiel deeply, she said, especially since the missing angel has affected her more than she expected.
“It’s not valuable or anything, but I didn’t realize how much it meant for me,” Curiel said.
“It was so kind of (Velgos) to post that for me, but all the support I’ve been getting from the rest of my neighbors is really heartwarming,” she said. “But I just want it back.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.