Lost wedding rings in Michael rubble have remarkable ending
Digital Reporter
Monday, October 15, 2018, 2:58 PM - Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle on October 10 as a powerful category 4 storm, causing kilometres of destruction along the coast. However, it seems happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.
The Weather Network's Stormhunter Jaclyn Whittal and camera operator Steve Mongeau travelled to Mexico Beach to survey the damage and get some footage.
"It was like entering a war zone. It was just absolute devastation as far as the eye could see," Whittal said.
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"One of the things I said to Steve as I've gone through a lot of EF-5 tornado damage, which this looked like, I said you know, 'it would be really interesting to get some shots of personal belongings.' We would see a toaster on the ground, a vacuum cleaner, whatever. I wanted to get some shots to show how mixed up everything was."
Whittal eventually came across a pile of costume jewelry. Among several beaded bracelets was a small red velvet box.
"Immediately I knew I had to pick up that ring box. I knew it could be something special to somebody," Whittal explained. "So, I open up the ring box and there it was, and I’m not just saying this -- the most beautiful set of wedding rings I have ever seen."
After noticing the jewelry company name written on the box, the stormhunter sent a photo of the wedding ring set to her parents in Ontario to do some investigating.
"It was a jewelry store in Indianapolis. My parents looked up the company and found it was extremely old. I think it began in 1887 and it has shut down since."
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In a quest to find the owner, Jaclyn posted a picture of the ring on social media.
"The power of social media can be just so impressive. So, immediately I took that picture and I put it up on Twitter and I trusted in everybody to do the ring thing."
Sure enough, the post gained over 1,500 retweets.
A group called FirstHand Weather shared the post on Facebook. Remarkably, the owner's neighbour Linda Hilaman found the post and contacted the original owner Teri Hays.
"I get choked up talking about it because you really have to just be there to see that kind of devastation," said Whittal. "And then imagine what that would mean to somebody to get something so special when everything is just wiped out."
While looting tends to happen in times of crisis, Whittal said Hilaman knew the exact address on 41st Street where the ring was found.
"It's absolutely her ring," the stormhunter said. "Talk about finding a diamond in the rough, a needle in a haystack. It's crazy."
Whittal ended up finding out that the ring owner's husband had passed away recently.
"When I read that her husband had passed it absolutely broke my heart."
On October 14, Whittal managed to connect with Hays over the phone. The Mexico Beach resident shared that her plan was to ride out the storm, but she decided to leave last minute.
"The tiny beach house was my dream. I just moved in about a year ago," Hays told Whittal. "I didn't think I was going to have to leave. Very quickly I decided to leave and look for those [the rings], but couldn't find them."
Hays said she was out getting supplies when she received the text from her neighbour that her rings had been located.
"I had not cried until I got that text. I went down on the asphalt and broke down," she told Whittal. "That was a sign to me that my husband is still taking care of me. I don't have enough words to tell you what this has done to my heart and my outlook."
