Cedar Rapids Weather
Lost Cell Phone Found, Set to Return to Family Sunday
MECHANICSVILLE - After first reporting this story tonight at 6, we got a call from a woman who says she found the phone and contacted the family.
They don't know if the pictures are still on the phone, but Diane will pick up the phone Sunday afternoon in Cedar Rapids. We don't normally tell stories about lost-and-found items. But, one Mechanicsville family's case caught our attention. Many eastern Iowans know the Griffiths and their friends as they've rolled through numerous towns in the area the past three Septembers. Their motorcycle ride memorializes SSG Donald Griffith, Jr., who died almost four years ago in an insurgent attack in Iraq. Memories of the man linger... even on the legs of many in the Griffith clan. His sister, Mandy Weber, looks at her heart-shaped tattoo with the word "Donald" and says, "That's the last thing I have of my brother." Mandy, and their mom Diane weren't the only ones proud of his service. The youngest in the family, Donald's brother, Noel, inked up, too. Diane says, "He wanted to be just like his brother that got killed. Everything he did was in his brother's memory and stuff." About a month ago, Diane had a reason for the new tattoo on her other leg. Two days before Christmas and two days after his own birthday, 23-year-old Noel died in a car accident. Diane says, "I don't know. Life isn't fair, but you shouldn't lose two of your kids. It's just horrible, because it's like you're just waiting for him to come home." Saturday, the Griffiths sat at home in the kitchen where they shared their last memory with Noel - his birthday party. Mandy recalls, "He had this big cheesy grin on his face and it's one of the best last memories I have of him." A memory this family might never get back entirely. Mandy used her cell phone to snap photos that day - the only photos anyone took. Diane says, "We don't know if somebody stole Mandy's phone or it fell out of her purse or somebody just kept it." While out spreading word about her other brother's memorial event, Mandy lost the pink Motorola Razor phone. She thinks it happened at Stuff, Etc. on Blairs Ferry Rd. in Cedar Rapids. She says, "I'm just hoping that a little kid picked it up and the parents didn't know about it." The store never found it, and all other searches turned up nothing. Mandy replaced the phone, but the pictures are still gone. Now, as her two brothers lay side-by-side in the Mechanicsville cemetery, she knows it's a long shot. But perhaps the person who has her phone will return it and help her family heal. "I'd be indebted to you for life, if I got that phone back." If you have any information, call Mandy Weber at 319-521-9285. More Good Stuff |
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