GRANHOLM - Sergeant's persistence pays off

As State budget woes force the department to struggle to do more with less, often taking the initiative to go above and beyond the everyday routine can become a burden. However, one public works supervisor from the Cooper Street Correctional Facility chose to do just that.

Rather than take the easy route and dispose of what could be someone’s only possessions, Sgt. James A. Roth committed himself to returning some lost cargo.

On Tuesday, August 31, 2004, the Cooper Street Correctional Facility’s public works crews were conducting Operation Clean Streets along U.S. 127 north. While reporting their progress to his supervisor, C/O John Jegla advised that among several items of interest, his crew had found a "nasty green water-soaked suitcase."

The suitcase and its contents were wet and had sprouted a lively crop of crawling insects. Sgt. Roth took the suitcase back to his office. The next day he opened the suitcase and inventoried the following items:

Four dress shirts, two pairs of shorts, a pullover shirt, a pajama bottom, a pair of tennis shoes, two pairs of socks, a pair of damaged eye glasses, an empty prescription bottle, a letter from the Social Security Administration, a letter from Fifth Third Bank with a new Mastercard credit card account number, a second letter from Fifth Third Bank with the PIN number, a starter check book from Fifth Third Bank with just an account number in it, a broken glass, some razors, shaving cream and a key.

The addresses on the letters were to a James P. Vyse, 440 North Church Street in Kalamazoo. Sgt. Roth first tried to locate Mr. Vyse by calling directory assistance but no such person was listed.

He then called Fifth Third Bank. Explaining to the agent at Mastercard who he was and his reason for calling, he asked if it would be possible for her to contact Mr. Vyse and return his call.

The next day Sgt. Roth received a call from Mastercard advising that the phone number on file for Mr. Vyse was no longer a working number.

Not to be discouraged, Sgt. Roth called the phone number listed on the letter from the Social Security Administration. He hit another dead end and no one there was willing or eager to help.

Next, Sgt. Ross investigated the prescription bottle. He made out an 800 number for a VAMC pharmacy in West Palm Beach, Florida. That number was an automated system for the Veterans Administration Medical Care system. The automated system gave Sgt. Roth an important piece of information. Mr. Vyse was a veteran.

"At this point, I was more than ever determined to locate this owner," said Sgt. Roth.

He returned the items to the suitcase, placed it into a plastic bag and secured it in the facility’s storage room. After a few days, Sgt. Roth spoke with Detective Sergeant Lisa Gee-Cram of the Michigan State Police Jackson Post and asked for her assistance.

Detective Gee-Cram sent an officer to the address indicated for Vyse. The address was for a homeless shelter. An administrator from the shelter told Detective Gee-Cram that he knew Mr. Vyse very well but had not seen or heard from him in awhile. He offered to leave a note for Mr. Vyse at the shelter advising him that his suitcase had been located and to call Sgt. Roth.

"After being advised that Mr. Vyse was homeless, and that no one had seen or heard from him in awhile, I got a sick feeling in my stomach," said Roth. "To me it would not make sense for a homeless person to leave their personal belongings laying along side a busy highway. I sure hoped Mr. Vyse was not lying in the ditch near where the suitcase was found."

So, fearing the worst, Sgt. Roth, C/O Jegla and his crew headed back to check the area where the suitcase was found. They searched a half-mile stretch of the roadway's shoulder to make sure that Mr. Vyse had not been hit by a vehicle and thrown into the tall cattails nearby. The results were negative.

Sgt. Roth could have then left the items at the State Police Post, but due to the condition of the items, he decided not to do that.

"Essentially it was garbage, but I could not help but feel that with this person being homeless, that it might just mean something to him. So, I hung onto the suitcase and placed it back on the shelf in my old office. That was around September 8, 2004," said Roth.

On Monday, September 20, Sgt. Roth received a phone message from Mr. Vyse. He had received word that his suitcase had been located and wanted him to ship it to him at the VA hospital in Ann Arbor where he was staying in the extended care unit. He asked Roth to mail it to him UPS and he would pay the shipping.

"I started thinking there was no way I could send these items to him knowing the shape they were in. I tried to call Mr. Vyse back but was not successful," continued Roth.

Sgt. Roth then decided that he would try to replace the items that were in the suitcase rather than send Mr. Vyse a suitcase full of garbage. He contacted Wal-Mart in Jackson and talked to store manager Kyle Brownmiller. After explaining the situation, he had Roth fill out a form and speak with co-manager Jenny Jordan. On Wednesday Jordan called Roth and asked him to come to the store.

"I arrived early at Wal-Mart on Thursday and met Ms. Jordan. She advised me that I had hit a soft spot. She stated that normally Wal-Mart Corporation gives a $25 gift certificate for each request, but this time an exception was made. She then proceeded to hand me six bags of items containing: flannel shirts, a hooded fleece jacket, 12 pair of crew socks, t-shirts, underwear, jeans, a pair of tennis shoes, insulated shirts and other clothes totaling $106.99," said Roth. " I thanked Ms. Jordan for her generous donation. After I left the store I realized that I did not have anything to place the items in. So, I returned and purchased a 25-inch wheeled carryon suitcase similar to the one that was found, but slightly bigger. I also acquired a number of toiletries and a bottle of aspirin."

Sgt. Roth packed the items in the new suitcase. He then took the old suitcase, along with the contents (the smell had even gotten worse) over to MSI laundry supervisor Jeff Licking and asked if there was anything he could do to clean them up. Licking laundered the clothing and shoes and washed the old suitcase. He did an excellent job, even though one of the shirts changed colors, and the sole fell off one of the tennis shoes.

"On September 23, 2004 I spoke with Mr. Vyse and arranged to return his property at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Ann Arbor. He wondered where his suitcase had been found and if I was the officer who had taken him to the hospital in Battle Creek. It turned out that Vyse had been found unconscious along a roadway near Battle Creek, taken to a hospital in that city then transferred to the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor. Apparently, someone picked up the suitcase and then threw it along U.S. 127," explained Roth.

On Friday, September 24, 2004, Roth met with Mr. Vyse and learned more of the story. On a windy night in Battle Creek, Mr. Vyes had held a towel up to block the wind as he lit a cigarette. The towel caught fire and when he dropped it, the fiery towel caught his socks and pants on fire which caused him second and third degree burns on his feet and ankles. A police officer called an ambulance. Vyes was taken to a hospital in Battle Creek and transferred to the Veterans hospital in Ann Arbor. He called the ambulance company about his suitcase and was advised no one had picked one up.

On Monday, September 20, 2004, Mr. Vyse called the long distance operator who gave him the message that Sgt. Roth was trying to contact him. How this operator had the message remains a mystery.

Mr. Vyse was glad to have his PIN number so he could make bank transactions although when he saw the old suitcase, he knew everything else was destroyed.

"Then I pulled out the other suitcase and explained how Wal-Mart donated the items," said Roth. "He said he was completely overwhelmed. As Mr. Vyse explained to the nurses what he had just received and how, you could just see how tickled he was by the big smile on his face. After all the leg work and effort, it made my day too," said Roth.

Note: Mr. Vyse is 67 years old and was in the Air Force, stationed in Arizona, where he worked on fighter planes. Upon discharge he opened Lum’s Restaurants which landed him in Kalamazoo and back again after working in several other states for the company. Most of his family and friends have passed. He is divorced and his ex-wife died a few years ago. He has several children who live in the Lafayette, Indiana area and he sees them occasionally. He hopes to get out of the hospital in the next few weeks.