Jane Lowe, of Nova Scotia, Canada, has lost hope of retrieving the items after the charity organisation – Diabetes Canada – told her the six bags had been processed and may be on their way to Africa.
The jewellery was stashed in a bag of clothes after she asked her husband to hide their valuables before leaving on a trip, and Lowe not knowing where he hid them.
The missing items included a strand of pearls Lowe’s father gave her when she was 13, diamond and emerald pendant, platinum and diamond ring and four gold bracelets.
Prior to her travels, Lowe called the charity and asked it to collect the bags for donation.
It was a few weeks after returning from the trip when she realised the jewellery was missing after asking her husband where he hid it. To her disbelief, she was told the valuables were hidden underneath some old clothes in the attic.
“I felt sick. Because there’s no getting around it. I’d gotten rid of the bag of clothes,” Lowe said.