Buried Treasure: Bracelet Reunited With Owner 52 Years Later

One Old Lyme resident didn't think he'd find someone else's long-lost treasure when his metal detector rang at an Old Saybrook beach earlier this month. 

Since Mark Kus made a hobby out of searching for buried treasure, he said never knows what he’s going to find. He's already found jewelry, loose change and a 1911 Half Eagle $5 gold coin. 

At the beginning of February, Kus went to a beach in the Indian Town area of Old Saybrook and when his metal detector rang, he started digging 12 inches deep into the sand.

"Out pops a bracelet. I put it in my pocket. Didn’t think anything of it until I got home," Kus said.

Kus started cleaning off the bracelet and after three days, he saw the piece of jewelry had a name and West Hartford address engraved on it.

A quick Google search turned up information for a doctor with the last name, Feinstein. 

Kus decided to give the doctor a call. 

"How could he have a piece of jewelry? I have virtually no jewelry," Dr. David Feinstein said. "I called him back and I said, 'The only piece of jewelry I ever had with my name on it was an ID bracelet when I was in high school and I lost it.'"

Feinstein lost the bracelet 52 years ago. He said his grandfather used to own the LaZarre Lodge on the beach from the early 1930s to about 1970. Feinstein grew up in West Hartford but would spend all of his childhood summers in Old Saybrook.

Kus also said when he told his mom, who grew up in Chester, about the Feinstein name, she listed some people from the same family. Feinstein said his grandfather owned a store in Chester and that’s where his father grew up.

Feinstein has a family memory saved, but it’s not the last treasure that might link these two together.

"I bought a metal detector for myself," Feinstein said.

Kus said he and Feinstein plan on going treasure hunting together. 

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