NORMAL - An unusual string of events has given a Bloomington man his watch back five years after it was stolen from his residence.

Normal Police Lt. David Warner said the solid gold Rolex watch was returned to the man after he was able to identify it through some unusual marks. The man also had filed a police report when the watch was stolen in 2002.

The road to the reunion started when the Pantagraph wrote a story about Warner's attempt to sell a Rolex watch on eBay. The diamond-faced watch had been seized by the Task Force 6 drug unit during a May 2003 bust.

Law allows police to seize items "obtained with illegal funds." Warner said the watch had been purchased with money from drug sales.

Police had the watch appraised and decided the town's annual auction probably wasn't the place for a piece possibly worth more than $10,000. That's when Warner decided to try the popular Internet auction site.

Warner originally listed the watch with a minimum bid of $9,999. While it drew more than 600 hits, there were no bids. He did more research and re-listed the watch without a minimum bid.

In the meantime, the man who had a Rolex stolen five years ago read the newspaper story and saw the picture of the watch Warner put on eBay and realized it might be his. He contacted police.

Warner said the police report on the stolen watch didn't list a serial number, so it couldn't be tracked that way. Instead, they relied on identifying marks on the watch.

After checking with the man's insurance company to be sure a claim had not be paid, Warner said the watch was returned to the man.

The man did not want to be interviewed by The Pantagraph.

"It's nice to be able to return it to the owner," Warner said.

As for trying eBay again, Warner said he would if another big item came up. Typically police recover such things as televisions, VCRs, DVD players or cameras and sell them at the annual town auction.