Wedding Ring Lost in Ocean Is Found

It's like a needle in a haystack -- except this ring lost in the ocean has now been found.

Live Oak resident Susan Smith, 38, was walking with her three children on Capitola Beach when the unthinkable happened: her wedding ring fell into the ocean.

She and her children spent a frantic 30 minutes looking, but for naught. All seemed lost -- and certainly the ring was lost -- until someone came up with an idea, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Enter "The Ring Finders."

The group of metal detector-equipped searchers helps people find items lost in the sand, and Santa Cruz member Scott Foss, 49, went out to the beach on Tuesday, two days after the ring had been lost.

Foss helps 15-20 people annually find items, he told the newspaper, but the delay meant this was a longshot.

He started his search at 6 a.m., with a map from Smith on hand. At 7:45 a.m., he heard a blip.

He started digging. Nothing. He dug again, in the shore break. Nothing again. A third try, however, yielded the ring.

He accepted a small cash reward, but said that the real reward was returning the ring.