Stained Glass Creates Mystery

Vaughn, who operates a flea market booth, was given a stained glass window last October to sell; but, after accepting it, she wondered where it really came from. It was given to her in the original packaging and it's definitely a piece that belongs in a church, she said.

The window is blue stained glass with a dove in the middle surrounded by a part of a Bible scripture, Joshua 24:15: "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord."

The person who gave Vaughn the window told her a church had ordered it several years ago but never used it or it didn't fit, Vaughn said. The story didn't make much sense, but Vaughn accepted the window, anyway, she said.

After the window had been in her booth a few months, a customer mentioned she remembered reading about a stained glass window stolen from a church in Fayetteville, Vaughn said.

She checked with the Fayetteville police, and they told her about a burglary of several items last year at the Assembly of God Church.

There wasn't a stained glass window stolen in that burglary, said the church's pastor, Dean Jones.

The police told Vaughn they didn't know of another incident involving a stained glass window and told her to do what she wanted with it because she hadn't done anything wrong.

Vaughn also checked with Rogers police, but the department also had no report.

Vaughn said she wasn't satisfied to try to sell the window. She tried to get in touch with the person who gave it to her, but she can't be found.

"I want to get it back to the rightful owner," Vaughn said. "The person who gave it to me put me in a bad situation. It's a pretty piece and really made to fit in a window. I'm sure people donated money to a church for it.

"It's not just a piece of stained glass -- it's God's window," she said. "That's the way I look at it. It was meant to celebrate God."

The mystery continues about the window, but Vaughn has decided to turn it over to the Washington County Sheriff's Office in a week or so.

A deputy told Vaughn they didn't have a report on the window, but she could turn it over as found property.