Wis. (WBAY) — Menasha police turned to Facebook Monday for help finding the owner of a mysterious collectible found at Minimax Storage in Menasha
The item is a shadow box, a case used for displaying memories often from a long career. Police determined the box was a stock model.
Officer Matthew Roe, Menasha’s community liaison officer, said the boxes are sold commercially.
“I’ve seen them sold on Etsy. Hobby Lobby has sold different variants of it. So this wasn’t actually related to an individual that we can identify,” Roe said.
Roe said the badge on the box reads “Hometown USA, Illinois.”
“Well, I mean, the generic badge on it says Hometown USA, Illinois,” Roe said.
Roe said the photos on the box do not depict a single person’s career.
“Also, the photos are different people in each of the photos. Whereas if it was an individual officer’s retirement gift in the shadow boxes that we normally see given out, they are individual officers that you can see throughout the progression of their career,” Roe said.
The shadow box was found at Minimax Storage in Menasha, prompting speculation on Facebook that it could have been lost in the recent tornado.
Menasha police believe the individual who left the item did not do so intentionally. The person who dropped it off at the department was doing their due diligence, not knowing if it belonged to a real retired police officer or was a stock item.
Roe said residents who find lost property they cannot identify should contact police.
“Well, if you ever come across lost property and you’re not sure what to do with it, you can’t identify who it goes to, you can always give the police department a call. We don’t mind coming out, helping you figure out what this is,” Roe said.
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