Missing charm bracelet has deep meaning for widow

MAGNOLIA, Texas – Catherine Eaves is devastated. She just realized a charm bracelet from her husband was hidden in the pocket of a robe that she donated.

The bracelet has extreme sentimental value to her because her husband, Randy Eaves took his life last March. He was a captain with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. She said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being exposed to tragic incidents, especially one involving teenagers and a car wreck.

His death was so emotional to her that she says she had to hide it during the initial part of her grieving.

"I think, how stupid can I be to put it in a robe?" Eaves said.

But she tucked it way inside the pocket of a white terry cloth robe in her closet because looking at it was too much for her to bare.

"Every time I looked at it, I would just erupt into tears," Eaves said. "My soul couldn't stand to look at."

The bracelet was a gift from her late husband and he would add a charm every year symbolizing something important in their marriage.

They knew each other since they were 14 years old, and eventually married. The couple was married for 30 years.

After Randy Eaves died, Catherine Eaves started to do some home improvement work, which meant packing belongings in boxes. During that process, Eaves said she did a lot of purging and donated several boxes to the donatestuff.com. In one of those boxes was the white terry cloth robe that contained the treasured bracelet in the pocket.

As part of the donation, she selected Purple Heart to be the recipient agency in August. Since so much time has passed, the whereabouts of the robe are unknown.

When Eaves realized what had happened, she was heartbroken.

But she believes in miracles and hopes someone has the robe and bracelet and will return it. She's even offering a reward to whoever finds it.

In the meantime, Eaves is working to begin a nonprofit organization to help others deal with issues pertaining to mental health.