LONG LOST TREASURE : SIMI WOMAN OFFERS REWARD FOR ALBUM.

Byline: Alicia Doyle Daily News Staff Writer

Anita Marcom has had her share of bad luck lately.

Over the past two weeks, the Simi Valley mom has had her welfare check delayed in the mail, her electricity turned off and she nearly passed out, she said, after giving blood to make an extra $15.

But these problems mean nothing to her compared to the loss of her photo album tracing the life of her 6-year-old son, Travin.

On June 7, outside the Indian Oaks Apartments where Marcom has lived for the past five years, she drove off without realizing she had left the photo album on the top of her car.

When she drove back to search for the priceless book, it was gone.

``My son's photo album meant more to me than anything,'' said Marcom.

``I didn't die in the donor bank, I got my electricity turned back on, and my mom helped pay my rent and bills. But I can't get those pictures back.''

Inside the pastel green, notebook-size album were roughly 50 snapshots of Travin - many of him in the hospital as a newborn, others of the baby in his crib.

The most memorable, Marcom said, is the picture of Travin being held in the arms of his grandfather, who passed away years ago.

Marcom's mother gave her the album early last week, when Marcom went to Las Vegas to visit. Her mother had the album - and many of her daughter's other personal belongings - in storage for years, Marcom said.

Because the drive home from Las Vegas left her exhausted, Marcom said, she forgot the book on the top of her car June 6 - the night she unloaded her things.

The album remained on the car overnight, but fell onto the street as she drove her son to school Friday morning, she said.

Later that day, a neighbor told Marcom the album had been moved from the pavement onto a grassy area outside the apartment complex, next to the tenants' parking spaces.

Marcom has gone to local schools and throughout the neighborhood, hoping someone turned in her sentimental treasure.

And scrounging up what little money she has, Marcom also has posted reward signs.

If the album is returned, there will be no questions asked, she said. The finder can even keep the album itself, it's the pictures that count.

``I cry every day and every night, hoping someone will bring it back,'' said Marcom, fighting back tears. ``Hopefully, a good Samaritan picked it up.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color in SIMI) ``My son's photo album meant m ore to me than anything,'' said Anita Marcom after accidentally driving off with her boy's book on the car.

(2) A sign seeks help in locating the photo album that details Marcom's son's life, which was lost on June 7 outside her apartment.

Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News