Locket lost in Shelton state park

SHELTON — Erika Allen is hoping the public might be able to help track down her son’s missing necklace, which holds a photo and a tuft of hair of Destiny, the family cat who has died.

Allen said her 24yearold son left the necklace, which has a Irish charm and a locket on it, at Indian Well State Park in Shelton during a family trip a few weeks ago. She said her son left it near the falls.

“He forgot to take it off and had jumped in the water,” Allen said. “When he realized his beloved girl went for a swim with him he quickly took the necklace off, dried it and placed it aside.”

Allen said Destiny was there for her son through all the ups and downs of his life for 19 years. She said the cat became a best friend for her son, making the necklace an “irreplaceable” item for him.

Allen said when her son left, he remembered seeing a group of people headed up the trail that day that might have seen it. She said she’s hopeful that group, or perhaps someone else, might have picked it up and put it somewhere different or turned it in somewhere.

Allen said her family lives in Thomaston but made the trek back to the Shelton state park the day after in the hopes of finding the locket where her son left it. She said by the time they got there, it was raining heavily and they searched the area where he left it but were unable to find it.

“It has been a very long couple of weeks and I cannot shake the forlorn look on my son’s face for forgetting it that day,” Allen said. “He feels like he lost her all over again.”

She said she knows asking for the public’s help is likely a long shot, but is hoping for a miracle.

Contributed photo Richie Allen with the family cat, Destiny, a few months before Destiny died.