Dead soldier's property bought from storage kept from family

UPDATE December 6, 2010

Happy Ending

Family gets back personal effects of Marine killed in Afghanistan
Published: Sunday, December 05, 2010, 12:00 PM
The brother of the first U.S. servicewoman to die in the war in Afghanistan said he is relieved to get back her personal effects from an Indiana businessman who bought them and initially refused to hand them over.
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Family gets back personal effects of Marine killed in Afghanistan



UPDATE

Man offers to return Marine's personal items
By Joel Hood and David Elsner, TRIBUNE REPORTERS
10:17 p.m. CST, November 30, 2010

Not since his days as a Marine in combat in Iraq has Matthew Winters Jr. felt a call of duty like the one he embarked on Tuesday, trying to recover the identification tags, medals and folded burial flag of his younger sister, who was the first U.S. servicewoman killed in the Afghanistan campaign.

The personal effects of Sgt. Jeannette Lee Winters, a Gary native, are being held by a northwest Indiana businessman who found himself at the center of a public firestorm when he told the Winters family that if they wanted the mementos back, they'd have to pay for them.

But late Tuesday, Mark Perko said he had a change of heart and agreed to hand over the items without payment.

"I'm just going to cut my losses on this stuff," said Perko, a used furniture salesman who purchased the contents of the Winters' family storage locker four years ago. "They can have it back if they want it."
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Man offers to return Marine's personal items

Brother of dead Marine says deal could be near to get her property back
November 30, 2010

By Jon Seidel, Post-Tribune
The brother of the first U.S. servicewoman killed in Afghanistan said he hopes a deal can be made Tuesday to retrieve her personal effects from a businessman who has been trying to sell them.

Matthew Winters Jr. said he talked to Mark Perko, of Hobart, Ind., and the two men could meet later Tuesday to discuss how Winters’ family can retrieve items belonging to the late Marine Sgt. Jeannette Winters.

Matthew Winters said Perko wouldn’t settle on how much he wants for Jeannette Winters’ property that Perko bought from an abandoned storage unit more than four years ago.

The collection includes Jeannette Winters’ funeral flag, her dog tag, military medals and even the Gold Star banner that families of deceased members of the military often display.

Perko, who owns a furniture outlet business in Lake Station, Ind., has already rejected an offer of $1,000 and four tickets to a Chicago Bears football game, according to Robert Farmer, executive director of Webb House Inc., which dedicated the Sgt. Jeannette Winters Centers for Homeless Female Veterans last week in Gary.

Farmer wants to display the items at the homeless shelter.
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Brother of dead Marine