Teen returns wedding ring to owner years after it was lost on NSW beach
A teen has used social media to track down the owner of a wedding ring lost on a New South Wales beach eight years ago.
Jade Hutchison, 17, took to Facebook earlier this month after she found a wedding ring in Bermagui on the South Coast while on holidays with her mum when she was a child in 2010.
Unable to find the owner at the time, Jade took the ring home back to Sydney with her. She said the date on the inside of the ring read “06-11-93”.
She posted about the ring on the Cobargo, Bermagui Notice Board group on the social media platform.
“I am from Sydney and have been trying to find the owner or a way of contacting the owner which has been hard considering I’m not from the area,” she wrote.
“I would absolutely love to return it to its original owner as I have had it for so many years.”
The 17-year-old told the ABC she had a response in two hours. After years of searching, she had finally found its owner.
South Coast woman Lynette Schaefer’s husband Paul lost his wedding ring on the same beach eight years ago.
Mrs Schaefer said it did not initially click that the ring belonged to her husband until she noticed the date, and realised it was the same as her wedding anniversary.
"It's something that you never stop looking for," she wrote on Facebook
"Always keep my eyes out just in case it appears to be in the sand."
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"When I first saw it [the post] I thought that somebody else had lost a ring, because it's been such a long time," she said.
"And then I saw the date and I went 'oh wow that's my wedding anniversary!' and then my heart started racing and I was like 'oh my god, it could be my husband's!'"
Jade said she “freaked out” when Mrs Schaefer contacted her. The woman never replaced the ring because of the cost.
And it just so happens the couple were reunited with the missing ring for a special wedding anniversary: their 25th.
"It's going to be our silver anniversary this year so it's made it very, very special," Mrs Schaefer said.
