OAKLAND, Calif. — An 11-year-old trawling the waters of Lake Merritt for garbage as part of a class cleanup project recovered two bags of treasure instead.
The bags filled with antique jewelry, gold and silver chains, pocket and wrist watches, and other valuables weighed about 15 pounds each and were submerged in a few feet of water, said Richard Bailey, executive director of the Lake Merritt Institute, which runs cleanup programs at the 140-acre lake.
Bailey waded out to retrieve the sacks Thursday after the student was unable to lift them out of the water with a net. One of the bags had “Wells Fargo” stamped on it. “We’ve had some unusual things, but this is really pretty unusual,” Bailey told the Oakland Tribune.
He said volunteers usually come across plastic bags and other litter although he told the San Francisco Chronicle that adult volunteers previously found a couple of kilograms of white powder, a sawed-off shotgun and a rifle.
Students have previously found clothes, cellphones, tennis balls and wallets, according to school officials.
The jewelry and other valuables found Thursday were turned over to police, who have not had a chance to check them against a list of stolen items.
The student was among a class of sixth-graders from St. Paul’s Episcopal School that goes out to the lake every week as part of a cleaning and community service project.
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