CHINO HILLS, Calif. (KGTV) — An engagement ring that was reported missing after it was accidentally flushed down a toilet at home in Chino Hills, California has been found by sanitation workers and returned back to its owner.
According to the City of Chino Hills Public Works, its sanitation crew was doing their routine sewer maintenance in the resident’s neighborhood this month when they found a ring and worked to retrieve it.
Staff members reached out to the resident and spoke with them to confirm the details of the ring before sterilizing and returning it the next day.
Officials say the ring was reported missing in March 2022 after they received a call from a resident whose soon-to-be stepson accidentally flushed his fiancée’s engagement ring down the toilet.
Once the man realized the ring was missing, he tried to retrieve it and even went as far as removing the toilet from the flange. He told the sanitation staff he also rented a sewer inspection camera to search for the ring in the drainpipes and while he was able to see it, he feared he may have pushed the ring further down the pipe in an attempt to find it.
The city says the sanitation staff brought out a closed-circuit television inspection truck and searched the City’s mainline to retrieve the ring. They suspected that since the residence is located at the end of a cul-de-sac, it was likely the ring could not have traveled very far even with laundry and showers being taken for a couple of days.
City sanitation staff tried to flush the resident’s sewer system several times while inspecting the City’s mainline in hopes the ring would turn up, but they were unsuccessful.
The sanitation staff left and let the resident know there was still hope that someday they would find the ring. Ironically, it took more than a year later for the special jewel to be returned back in the hands of its owner.
