Jaclyn Stuart, of Elkhart Lake, contacted TMJ4's Call 4 Action office looking for help in locating a clock she dropped of for repair two years ago.
Stuart said the clock has sentimental value. She grew up looking at over the mantel in her childhood home.
"My parents got it as a gift for their wedding from my mom's cousin who made it out of a slice of a tree that was in the family homestead," Stuart said.
Stuart explains when her parents split, her dad asked if she wanted the handmade family heirloom.
"He sent it out to me, but the timepiece didn't work. It had corroded or just gone bad over time, so I took it to the local clock and watch repair guy," Stuart said.
Stuart said that was Grandlic's Clock and Watch Repair off highway 42 in the town of Mosel in Sheboygan County. The owner was Johnny White.
Stuart dropped off the timepiece in April of 2019. She showed us her claim ticket. She still hasn't been able to get her clock back.
"I made numerous attempts from June 2019 through June 2020 to pick up the clock, but every time I stopped at the business, no one was there and it was locked even though I was there within posted business hours," said Stuart.
"Every time I stopped by, there were numerous notes taped to the door from customers looking for their timepieces," she continued.
"With another call attempt on September 7, 2020, Johnny White finally answered the phone and assured me that he had the clock in his possession and would return it to me. He asked that I text him my phone number so he can figure out a time to make that arrangement. He never texted or called me back and has failed to reply to texts sent on Sept. 14 and Oct. 3, 2020. Multiple other call attempts to reach him on the phone have gone unanswered," Stuart said.
Stuart called the Sheboygan County Sheriffs Department but was told this was a civil matter.
So, she filed a small claims judgment against White.
"Because I didn't have his current address -- he used to live in Sheboygan, moved to New Holstein, I tried to have him served in New Holstein, but he wasn't there. Then I got the weirdest letter in the mail that's like a hand-written note basically somebody saying that they know where he lives and his current address and workplace," Stuart showed the letter to TMJ4 News.
Consumer Investigator Kristin Byrne called Johnny White. The next day, he called us back.
White told us he closed the business in June of 2019 and informed everyone who had an item that they needed to come to get it, including Jaclyn Stuart.
He said Jaclyn's timepiece could be at his old home in New Holstein.
After about a four-minute phone call, he hung up on Byrne.
Byrne called the number connected to that home and the man who answered said he would look into it and call me back. Days later, no one has called.
Byrne learned the land the repair shop is on and many more acres surrounding it are for sale. The property owner declined to comment on our story.
"Knowing that there are so many people out there that have far more valuable timepieces, this is sentimental, but he used to repair Rolexes and family grandfather clocks," said Stuart.
Stuart still has her claim ticket for her clock.
"Part of me is so worried it's all gone that he pitched it somewhere but I can't imagine him getting rid of really large valuable timepieces," she said.
Several other former customers of Grandlic's Click and Watch Repair filed police reports with the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department saying they were still trying to get their timepieces back.
TMJ4 News contacted a few customers listed in the reports and they said they did get their items back.
