Officer replaces rosary stolen by purse thief

Audrey Parks was like a second mother to Sharon Cochraham. Cochraham and Parks’ daughter Ingrid were best friends from the time Cochraham was 11 years old, so Parks almost raised her.

When Parks died, Cochraham had one memento to hold onto: Parks’ rosary, which she had prayed on so faithfully that she had worn the Jesus figurine right off the cross.

Then, on a Tuesday night last month, Cochraham, 69, left a beauty parlor and walked to her car in a Fairfax County, Va., parking lot. Right after she dropped her purse onto the passenger seat, a thief opened the passenger-side door and grabbed it — running away with not only Cochraham’s wallet, but also the treasured rosary beads.

Now she has a new rosary to pray on, thanks to a thoughtful Fairfax County police officer.

Officer Matthew Pleva reported to the scene where Cochraham’s purse was stolen. He found her waiting at her car, distressed by her close encounter with the unexpected thief. He helped her calm down, and he wrote down a list of what was in her purse: her driver’s license, credit cards, $3, her glasses, the rosary.

And then, to Cochraham’s great surprise, Pleva rang her doorbell in Alexandria that Saturday.

“You can’t go to Mass tomorrow without a rosary,” he said to her. He had bought a new one just for her. It’s rose-colored, she said, and beautiful.

“I couldn’t believe that. I really couldn’t,” Cochraham said. “He has the sweetest smile. His smile brought me peace.”