With a Tumble, an Afghan Rug is Lost in a Move from Milford

With one bump in the road, a handmade wool rug purchased in Afghanistan tumbled out of a pickup truck on Route 140, on a move from Milford to Grafton.

Four months later, a Navy veteran is still looking for it. Evan Maki purchased the rug from a shopkeeper he'd befriended in Kabul. He's offering a $100 reward, hoping that someone picked it up on the side of the road as an unexpected find, not knowing where it came from.

"It's just completely disappeared," he said. "No one has contacted me."

The suitcase that had held it in place also fell out of the truck. That was found near Fresco's, in Upton, and turned in to police. The rug is still missing, said Maki. He and his friend were moving his girlfriend from Milford to a new home in Grafton. Neither of them felt the rug fall out, and only noticed it missing when they arrived and started to unload the truck.

Maki described it as handmade of lambswool. The dominant color is a deep orange. It is in an intricate geometric pattern, similar to the rug shown in the photo. (That rug was one he purchased for his parents) It's about 3 feet by 6 feet long.

The rug is worth searching for, not only because of its value, but its meaning. He'd purchased several gifts for family and friends while in Afghanistan, but this was the one thing he purchased for himself, to remember his year of deployment, and the friendly shopkeeper who had set up a small store on Eggers Army Base, in Kabul.

Maki, 37, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, was stationed down the road, and about once a week would go to Eggers, to eat with friends and visit the rug shop. Before he purchased the rug, the shop owner had explained to him how he could tell it was handmade, by the unevenness of the thread fringe on either end, and he told Maki about the origin of the pattern.

"I bought a lot of things for people. This is the only thing I got for myself, to remember my deployment, and the people I met."

If you have any information about the rug, please contact Maki at 774-287-1472.