Lost War Widow’s KIA Bracelet Found in D.C.

A fallen soldier's bracelet found in D.C. launched a desperate search to find the rightful owner.

Retiree Jack Everett was on his usual routine -- tossing a ball with his neighbor's dog near 39th and W streets in Glover Park -- when he spotted the bracelet honoring a soldier killed in action in Iraq in the grass.

“I thought it was a dog tag,” he told News4.

Staff Sgt. Angel Mercado-Velazquez, of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., was killed by mortar fire southwest of Baghdad in an area known as the Triangle of Death Sept. 1, 2006, at age 24.

He was survived by a wife and two children, as well as his parents in his native Puerto Rico.

After making calls to find the soldier's relatives, News4 found the bracelet’s rightful owner. The soldier’s 13-year-old daughter called from North Carolina to say her mother lost the bracelet while visiting D.C. at least three years ago. She believes the bracelet fell off while she was at the monuments.

How it wound up in Glover Park remains a mystery, but now Everett can return it.

“It's important to remember, especially people who die in battle,” he said. “You try and remember the people you love and sometimes the people you don't know.”