Twenty-seven hours later, Norman and Peter Lervold of Redding, California, were southbound on Interstate 5 in the Siskiyou Mountains near the Oregon-California border, 250 miles from Salem. The pair, a father-son truck driving team, stopped at the summit to switch seats for the final leg home. As they pulled to a stop, the sun picked out a glint of gold alongside the road. Much to their surprise, it was a picture—a picture of Jesus. The two Lutherans knew this was something rare and brought the picture to their Redding home. On the back of the picture was the name of a church in Salem. Barbara Lervold, wife and mother, called the church and asked if any works of art had come up missing recently. The icon had been found.
Rather than mail the icon to St. Timothy’s, the Lervolds wanted to return the icon as soon as possible. So Barbara and her sister decided to drive up to Salem from Redding that Saturday and make the delivery in person. They spent the night and worshiped at St. Timothy’s the next morning before returning home.
The icon had been severely damaged, scratched and gouged with satanic symbols and words, marked with tire tracks, and urinated upon. The parish had its icon back, but obviously there would be a long and difficult process of restoration. The following Tuesday, the church conducted a special service for the restoration of a sacred object that has been defaced. The congregation thanked God for the return of the icon, prayed for the man who stole it, and gave thanks for the goodness of the Lervold family.