In August 1906 a Youngstown man and his wife were camping at the resort when three diamond rings belonging to the woman came up missing.
The loss was discovered when she was heading out the door of the cottage in which the couple were staying. She was certain of where she had left them after removing them from her fingers.
The Ashtabula City Police (GOTL was not a village at the time and had no law enforcement) investigated; even the chief of police was called in on the case. A suspect was given “a thorough sweating,” but without result, and he was released. Even the chief suggested that the crime would not be solved, if there were a crime.
Neighbors of the ring owner dismissed the story, believing that the couple were simply looking for a little notoriety, that the whole thing was a hoax. But the woman was “well nigh frantic” between losing the gems and being accused of lying. Police stayed hot on the case; after all, the victims insisted their identities not be revealed to the press.
And then it happened. The rings, worth $500, were found in the driveway outside the cottage. Officers insisted they had been over the ground several times, and the rings were not there. It was their opinion, therefore, that thief got nervous, decided to bring them back and ditch them in a spot they would be easy to find.
Source: Ashtabula Beacon Record, Aug. 29, 1908