DOWNTOWN — A Chicago lawyer who happened upon a handful of vintage vinyl records this week is on a quest to find the collection's rightful owner.
Attorney John Lillig said he stopped inside the Ogilvie Metra station around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on his way home and noticed a small stack of records near an ATM that appeared to have been accidentally left behind.
"They were in this plastic sleeve, so I could tell it was somebody who collected old records, cared about them, was taking care of them," Lillig said. "I suspected that he or she had just went by to get some money and put them there, and then was rushing for a train and forgot them and was probably cursing themselves on the train.
"I thought, 'I'm going to try and find a way to get them back to that person because I know it probably means a lot.'"
With no owner in sight, Lillig said he called the bank associated with the ATM and left his name and phone number in case someone came looking for them.
Lillig's fervent search is in part fueled by his own experience as the owner of a beloved record collection from the same late-1970s and early-1980s eras.
His, too, was lost over the years thanks to a flood in the basement where they were stored.
"I figured if I could prevent somebody else from losing some of their records from that era, I thought it'd be a good thing to do," he said.
Among the finds were U2's 1984 "Unforgettable Fire" LP and Cheap Trick's 1978 "At Budokan."
To prove ownership, you'll need to name the others in the bunch, Lillig said.
He can be reached at jlillig@htlaw.com.
