A decades-old police jacket with no label, no name and no clear owner has sparked a quiet mystery in Motueka.
About fifteen years ago, when Grant Heney was serving as Motueka’s community constable, a woman in her late 60s came into the police station carrying her husband’s old police jacket. She asked whether they would like it.
Grant gladly accepted it, although he has since regretted not asking more questions.
The jacket has no identifying labels, other than its size, but Grant’s research suggests it was a style worn between the 1950s and 1970s.
‘It would be interesting to know a little bit of history of it,’ he says.
Grant wonders whether the jacket had been left hanging in a wardrobe after the woman’s husband died, and is curious to know where and when he served on the police force.
The woman’s name has been lost to the sands of time, at least for Grant. Now, he is hoping someone in the community might recognise the jacket or recall the story behind it, and help fill in the gaps.
Anyone who can help solve the mystery is asked to contact elise@topsouthmedia.co.nz.
