Exclusive: Woman Hopes To Reunite Cartier Watch With Owner In Time For Valentine's Day

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Jana Cassidy had just moved and was sorting through boxes when she found something she'd nearly forgotten about for two decades.

"I needed something out of storage, and I came across the watch I found almost 20 years ago," she said.

It was in the early 1990s when Cassidy found a Cartier watch in the grass with an inscription that piqued her curiosity: "It says 'John Loves Leslie. February 21 1974.' "

Not knowing what to do, Cassidy put it away.

"Back in the '90s, how do you find the owner of a lost watch? I had no answer, so it went into storage," she said.

But now she's determined to find the rightful owner.

She had little to work with but she took a stab at calling Cartier to see if they could track down who purchased the watch using the serial number.

The serial number, unfortunately, is faded and nearly indecipherable.

"It's very faint, so it seems like this person used the watch a lot. And when I saw it, I thought, 'God, it would be great to find the owners,' "  Cassidy said.

With just a few days from Valentine's Day, Cassidy hopes this love story will have a happy ending: "It'd be fabulous if Leslie could have her watch back."

If you might know who owned this watch, Cassidy asks that you contact her at johnlovesleslie@gmail.com.