New Jersey husband finds lost ring after nine years

A New Jersey couple found an engagement ring that had been lost in Italy for nine years.

Justin and Margaret Mussel were visiting San Marco dei Cavoti, Italy in the summer of 2008 when Margaret noticed that her ring was gone.  

Margaret’s family owns a home in the southern Italian town.

‘Earlier that day we had visited Pompeii and it was extremely hot,’ Justin told the Asbury Park Press. ‘My wife’s ring was loose, but she didn’t realize it was gone until later.’

Margaret told DailyMail.com that the new the ring was loose before it went missing.

After thoroughly searching the property, they assumed it slipped off somewhere in Pompeii and gave up looking. 

Justin and Margaret Mussel were in southern Italy in 2008 when Margaret noticed that her engagement ring was missing. She assumed it slipped off in Pompeii

Margaret said she knew the 1.1 karat princess-cut ring was loose before she lost it

Margaret's family has a home in San Marco dei Cavoti in southern Italy

Margaret’s family has a home in San Marco dei Cavoti in southern Italy

Justin’s rental insurance wouldn’t cover the 1.1 karat, princess-cut diamond on a white gold band because it was lost on international soil.

‘I did buy a replacement ring a couple of years later,’ he said. ‘Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we would find it again.’

Nine years later, Justin and Margaret, now 36, and parents to two boys, took the family back to the southern Italian town where Margaret’s family owns a home.

They were sitting on a bench in the front yard on August 5 when something caught Justin’s attention.

‘I saw this flicker of light coming out of a crack in the sidewalk,’ he said.

‘Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we would find it again.’ 

The crack was several inches deep, so he grabbed a screwdriver from inside the house.

And there was the ring. Only 10 feet from the house.

‘The odds of it falling into this crack, much less finding it nine years later, are astronomical,’ Justin said.

Margaret couldn’t believe it. 

‘I thought he was crazy,’ she said. ‘I was like, ‘There’s no way the ring is in there.’ I couldn’t believe it. I thought he was playing a joke.’   

Margaret slipped the ring on. It still fit.

‘The band is a little scuffed up, but not too bad,’ she said. ‘The diamond looks good. If you saw it, you wouldn’t think it was in a crack for nine years.’ 

Margaret plans to save the newer one for when one of her sons gets married. 

Pictured is the crack that Justin found the ring in after nine years

Pictured is the crack that Justin found the ring in after nine years

Margaret plans to save the replacement ring for when one of her boys gets married

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk