MARYSVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A central Ohio man's heart sank when he realized that burglars had stolen a safe holding his most prized possession - a 300-year-old family Bible.

But thanks to Goodwill, local deputies and a bit of luck, the priceless family heirloom was returned to Tim Shier more than a year after it was taken from his home in Marysville, near Columbus.

The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/YQnp99 ) reports that one of Shier's cousins saw a reference to the German Bible on an ancestry website recently. Sheriff's deputies enlisted the help of Goodwill, which had sold it online.

They tracked it to Georgia, but the couple who bought it wouldn't release it without recouping the $405 they paid for it.

The police union in Shier's home county covered the cost and recovered the Bible.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com