Jack Harris finds jigsaw piece missing after seven years working on puzzle By John Coles of The Sun in London From: May 17, 2010 9:40AM
PATIENT Jack Harris spent seven-and-a-half years doing a 5000-piece jigsaw - only to find one piece missing.
The 86-year-old turned his house upside down but fears it was eaten by one of his family's dogs, The Sun reported.
And it has taken him so long to do the puzzle he can't buy a replacement as the manufacturers have stopped making it.
The giant jigsaw was a Christmas gift from daughter-in-law Eve in 2002.
He confidently predicted he would have the 1.5m-square monster, showing James Tissot's The Return of the Prodigal Son, completed by the following summer.
But Jack struggled and the mass of pieces dominated his dining table for more than seven years as he strived to complete it.
When he finally began putting the last pieces together he was dismayed to find he had only 4999 and a tiny hole in the middle.
Daughter-in-law Eve, who is married to Jack's son Trevor, said he was "so disappointed" when he found there was one piece missing.
She said: "We got him this one as a bit of a joke really because he always boasted he could get them done so quickly.
"He a bit of a whiz with them but there was so much to do with this.
"We'd all have a go at it each time we went to see him but it seemed to just take forever.
"It was marvellous to see it finally completed. But when we saw there was a piece missing from the middle, we just couldn't believe it."
Retired businessman Jack has a new jigsaw from his family each year and his wife Doris helped do them with him.
But she died in February 2004, leaving him to complete the marathon task on his own.
Read more about Jack Harris' unfinished puzzle at The Sun.
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