Lost Diamond Ring Found In N. Broward Waste Facility
COCONUT CREEK (CBSMiami) – Sometimes you have to dig through trash to find your treasure.
Brian McGuinn, of Coconut Creek, learned that lesson.
A few weeks ago his wife asked him to put her 1.5 carat diamond engagement ring in her jewelry box. But Brian was preoccupied with something and accidentally threw the ring in the garbage with some trash he had in his hand.
The next morning he awoke in a panic.
"I'm like, 'Oh my goodness I threw it out,'" he told CBS 4's Carey Codd. "As we were running out to the dumpster to try and find the bag, there goes the truck all the way back to Waste Management."
His devastated wife called Waste Management and within an hour, Brian was suited-up, spacesuit style, at Wheelabrator North Broward in Pompano Beach where 2,250 tons of solid waste is processed each day.
Brian spent 90 minutes combing through a 10-foot high by 30-yard long pile of trash. And lots of sludge.
"It was pretty raunchy," he said.
He sifted through half-eaten food, rotting fruits and items that are too gross to mention.
After seeing some garbage that looked familiar, he started digging harder. Soon, he felt the ring.
"I screamed," he said. "It was like winning the lottery. I swear -- like winning 50 million dollars."
Anna had little hope of ever again laying eyes on the ring that she designed. But then her phone rang with the good news.
"I just couldn't speak," she said. "My jaw was on the ground. I just said, 'No way!'"
Soon, Brian showed up at her office and slipped the ring, sludge and all on her finger.
"I'm just really, really thankful that he would even think about going and doing it," Anna said.
But Brian said he never hesitated.
" I knew I had to make it right," he said. "It was that important."
For now, Anna has no plans to ever remove the ring from her finger.
Brian, meanwhile, hopes that someday he'll be able to smell again.
"I think my nose lost all it's sense of smell after that event," he said.
