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MESA, Ariz. — A first-edition Book of Mormon has been returned to a woman after being stolen from her eight months ago.
Helen Schlie, 89, discovered in May that the book had been stolen by a friend, who then sold a few pages to a rare-book dealer in Texas. Detectives tracked the pages to Texas book dealer Reid Moon, who they say was unaware they had been stolen.
Moon had bought the pages from Jay Michael Linford, 49, who pleaded guilty Jan. 10 to theft and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 12 by the Maricopa County Superior Court.
Linford's plea agreement calls for including probation in the man's sentence, according to AZCentral. It would also require Linford to repay Moon the $7,500 he paid for the pages.
Police returned the book to Schlie on Tuesday because it was no longer needed for evidence. It was the first time she had seen the book since the Memorial Day theft.
"This has hurt my heart terribly. Jay had been such a help to me," Schlie said. "I can't understand what happened in his mind to do this. I'm just happy to have it back.''
The book has been in the Schlie family's possession for 40 years, according to the website. It is believed to be one of about 200 first editions of the book in existence and is valued at $50,000.
