Sharrocks search for hope chest lost in move

IF YOU WATCHThe "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" episode featuring the Sharrock family will air at 8 p.m. May 15 on WTVC-NewsChannel 9.

Most anyone would give up a hope chest - even a handmade one - if it meant getting a new house, but the Sharrock family of Rossville is hoping they don't have to.

A few weeks after moving into their new house, built by the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" crew and Vision Homes, Michael, Cindy and Patrick Sharrock noticed they hadn't seen a pine hope chest that Michael built by hand.

"There's no telling where it might have gone," he said.

Sharrock said he built the chest for his stepdaughter when she was 9. She now is 20 and living with other family members.

He had hoped to give it to her when she moved out on her own, but he said he could make another one if the original doesn't turn up.

"We have no hurt feelings about anything," said Sharrock. "We can't compare what has turned up missing to what we got. It was definitely worth it."

The chest is made of dark pine. It has two porcelain knobs with pink roses and an unusual split-top opening mechanism. The Sharrocks estimate it is about 24 inches high, 30 inches long and 16 inches deep.

Beth Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Big Hearts build team that coordinated the build, said they don't know where the chest went but are trying to follow up with the volunteers who moved the furniture out of the original home.

Some furniture was stored, but the Sharrocks also marked some to be donated and some to be trashed. The family still has a lot of things in storage, but Sharrock said he had looked through the unit and couldn't find the chest.

He is asking anyone who may have seen it to call 423-634-9070.

Johnson also provided a few more details about the night the show will air on ABC.

She said the Big Hearts group is looking for a site for a community viewing party. The Sharrocks and the builders will watch the show together privately but are expected to appear at the community event when the episode ends.

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