A Florida couple whose diamond engagement ring disappeared just before their wedding 21 years ago recently found the culprit.
Their own toilet bowl.
Shaina Day, of Lakeland, Florida, has had her suspicions about the nefarious fixture since the day her ring vanished. But they weren’t confirmed until this November, when her mother-in-law Renee replaced the toilet and found the diamond piece wedged in its porcelain tomb, the family told WFLA-TV in Tampa.
“She came to me one day and said, ‘I think I lost my ring,’” Nick Day, Shaina’s husband, told the station. “She said, ‘It was on the counter now it’s gone, and I think I may have flushed it down the toilet on accident.’”
The couple searched everywhere — including their home’s septic system. They pumped the entire tank through a strainer in a valiant-yet-vain attempt to find the ring.
The diamond stayed lost for decades and may have remained so if not for Renee’s decision to replace the toilet.
After their find, Nick’s parents wrapped the ring and presented it to the pair on Christmas, according to WFLA.
“Both of us knew exactly what it was,” Nick Day told the station.
Shaina said the shocking discovery quickly drove her to tears.
“It was kind of an ugly cry,” Shaina told WFLA. “I sat there and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is my ring. This is my ring.’ I’m wiping my eyes and mascara is going everywhere.”
The couple said they might use the diamond in a new piece of jewelry or pass it on as – although hopefully after a thorough cleaning.