SAN ANTONIO — A missing memento. An 86-year-old San Antonio great-grandmother is on the hunt for a cross pendant. Barbara Machado has pretty much worn it every single day for the last five decades until recently.
"I have only had it off three times in 51 years," she said. "And those three times it was when I was in the hospital. They made me take it off."
However, she recently met up with a friend. They had lunch at Chris Madrid's and went antiquing. She said they made a few stops. Machado even went to her friend's house then to HEB before going home. Until she realized, the gold cross pendant was missing from her chain.
"Heart sick," she said.
The piece came from her late husband Rueben, who drove to Kerrville, in the 70's, to have the cross handcrafted. She said James Avery made the cross. He passed away in 2006.
"He waited while Mr. Avery made that cross for me, “she said.
She said it was also the first piece of jewelry her husband had gifted her.
"That's the part that hurts me the most," she said. "Through the years, he gave me many pieces of jewelry. But, that one was special because it was the first."
After more than 50 years of being attached to her prized piece, she is now left wearing just a chain. The great-grandmother said she retraced her steps to find the cross. But, came home empty handed. She said she even went to HEB and they pulled security footage.
"We even went back to HEB and the pulled out the video of me checking out,” she said. “It was fuzzy. They couldn't see everything."
However, she still has hope.
"I just saw on the internet this morning, the man lost his wedding ring in the lake 25 years ago, and he got it back yesterday," she said. "So, you never know."
Another challenge she said there is nothing engraved on the back of the cross. She said it is the La Primavera Cross Pendant from James Avery. Machado did say she may replace it, but said it wouldn't be the same.