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NICOMA PARK, Okla. (KFOR) – A caring neighbor and a little police detective work reunited a family with a precious Bible.

Terry Ward was mowing his lawn last week when he noticed something strange – a Bible in his flower bed.

“It rained all night so it must have just been there for a little while because it wasn’t wet,” Ward said. “Just laying there with some screws and some bullets.”

The Bible had the name “Pearl Williams” and the year 1946 on it.

Ward’s first thought: how he could get it to its rightful owner. 

“Who is Pearl Williams and where does she live?” he said. “I asked City Hall and they had no record of her.”

So – he called the Nicoma Park Police Department.

Inside the Bible, they found a Del City address.

“So I contacted the Del City Police Department and they went by the address,” said Lt. Mike Weiss with the Nicoma Park Police Dept. “Luckily, the Bible’s owner – her son – still lived at that address.”

The family couldn’t believe it had found its way to their home. 

“It was very emotional,” said Lisa Bennett, Pearl’s daughter. “We lost my mom in October. So that was hard enough and now to find out that I have Bible gives me part of her.”

Bennett found many of her mom’s precious, priceless memories tucked inside the Bible.

“Her wedding announcement was in the Bible from where she and my dad got married,” said Bennett. “She kept different things that were very important to her.”

Bennett says she’s grateful for the generosity of strangers – and the police work – that may not have seemed like much to them, but means everything to her family.

“She was a big part of my life so when I lost her I lost a lot of her,” Bennett said. “Finding little bits and pieces and keeping little pieces of her helps me rebuild that little loss in my heart.”

“This is the kind of story that makes it nice to be a police officer,” said Weiss. “It makes it nice to be an investigator that you can find somebody’s family Bible and return it to them.”

The police are working to find out if the Bible and other items were stolen from Williams’ home after she died.