Mtn. View HS student searches for owner of lost diploma

Mountain View High School senior Abigail Jeffcott is searching for the owner of a 1996 high school diploma found in Arizona.

According to Jeffcott, the high school received the diploma in the mail close to a year ago. A staff member in the counseling office showed it to her Monday and told Jeffcott someone in Arizona found the diploma on the side of the road after they blew a tire. The diploma is made out to Valerie Lyan Estes.

Jeffcott said she doesn’t know if it was returned to the school by a friend of the high school staff member or just someone who randomly found it. Regardless, she and her friends went through the 1996 yearbook and found a picture of Estes.

Jeffcott said it’s a one-in-a-million chance this stranger’s tire went out when it did.

“He saw this thing out in the distance and thought, ‘Oh, I will just go and see what it is,’ and he picked it up and saw it was a Mountain View High School diploma from the year 1996,” Jeffcott said Monday evening. “I would hope she would be excited that someone found her diploma. Maybe she’s been missing it for years and I’ll just try and find her in any way I can.”

Jeffcott said she figured if it was her own missing keepsake, she would want it back as well.

“It’s important for me to have keepsake like that,” Jeffcott said. “I would want my diploma if I lost it.”

Jeffcott said she just wants to get the word out in the community, hoping that someone knows Estes.

Viewers of our Monday night story already offered up some promising leads, including what appears to be the woman’s Fcebook page. We’ll update the story as warranted.