Nanaimo woman searching for lost fossil dating back 445M years

The Nanaimo RCMP have been notified of the missing fossil and say there was no signs of forced entry into Mary-Lou Swanek’s home. (CTV News)

Nanaimo -

A Nanaimo woman who discovered a fossil that dates back 445 million years is desperately trying to find it after she noticed it had gone missing from her home.

Mary-Lou Swanek had company over at her apartment on Stewart Avenue in downtown Nanaimo last month and wanted to show off her fossil.

“I went to get it and it wasn’t there,” says Swanek. “And that’s when I tore my home apart.”

Since then, she has checked local pawnshops and posted on social media but has had no luck.

Swanek kept the fossil she describes as “priceless” in a hidden spot inside her home.

The last time she recalls having it out was back in June 2020 when she posted the fossil on a Facebook page called Fossil Hunters.

During the lockdown of the pandemic, Swanek says she didn’t have anyone in her home and only recently started having company over since restrictions loosened.

Mary-Lou Swanek with her fossil in a photo taken years ago.

The Nanaimo RCMP have been notified of the missing fossil and say there was no signs of forced entry into Swanek’s home.

Swanek found the fossil in 2002 while out boating on Georgian Bay in Ontario.

She contacted the Royal Ontario Museum shortly after finding it. The museum had it in their possession for about year.

Dave Rudkin of the Royal Ontario Museum wrote in an article at the time that the fossil is “a superb example of a ‘trace fossil’ known by the impressive formal name Rusophycus polonicus.”

The article goes on to state the fossil is about 445 million years old.

The fossil was kept wrapped in plastic in a white box with a Royal Ontario Museum sticker on it. The box also contained the article that was published and photos of the fossil.