Very cool find - It must be neat to examine them - save some history from the dump - it's a good day!
Just be careful in how you do it. If you're too specific you'll get a bunch of people saying it's theirs and no way you can prove otherwise. Of course, I never thought of the eviction thing. That sounds very plausible to me. Still, what a once in a lifetime find! Wish I had such luck. Guy~
I would think you should contact the police first and make sure no one had reported any theft or loss. That would rule that out right away.