BREVARD, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Police have recovered a rare Walt Whitman book valued at $100,000 and arrested a Brevard College employee who said he was storing it at his home in Hendersonville, Brevard Police reported Thursday.
Police began investigating April 8, when Brevard College faculty notified police that a 1st Edition of Whitman’s most famous work, “Leaves of Grass,” had gone missing from the valuable works vault at the college. College staff worried that someone was trying to sell the rare work through an online auction site.
According to Brevard Police, detectives from the department’s Criminal Investigation Division quickly identified a suspect as Barry Beddingfield, 43, of Hendersonville, an employee of the college who is listed in the college’s online directory as a “Maintenance Technician – HVAC.”
“Detectives interviewed Beddingfield who admitted to having the book stored at his home in Hendersonville,” a release states.
The Transylvania Times first posted a screen shot of an online eBay auction listing where a seller identified as “bzbeddingfield” from Hendersonville, N.C., was offering “Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman 1855, Chapin – FIRST Edition, FIRST Issue” for $22,000. There was one bid before the auction was ended on April 5, according to the posting.
Police obtained a warrant to search Beddingfield’s home, where they reportedly recovered the missing copy of “Leaves of Grass,” along with other items identified as being stolen from Brevard College, police said.
Beddingfield was arrested on Wednesday, charged with Larceny by Employee, Obtain Property by False Pretense, and Possession of Methamphetamine, according to a release. He was processed at Transylvania County Jail and initially was held on $5,000 bond.
This story is being updated as further details emerge.