Long lost wedding ring brings back memories of marriage

WEYMOUTH, Mass. — October 20, 1990 was the happiest day of Elaine Fitzgerald's life. It was the day she married her love, Barry.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Fitzgerald said.

She made unforgettable memories, exchanging vows and rings. But just two weeks after the wedding, her 14-karat gold band disappeared while playing softball in a Braintree field.

“I was so heartbroken,” Fitzgerald said. “I was at work and I happened to look down and I was like ‘oh my god, my ring!’”

Elaine got a new ring, but it wasn't the same.

In 2012, Barry died of a sudden heart attack.

Their lost ring had long been forgotten, until a week and a half ago when Keith Pantermoller was metal detecting in the same field -- 26 years later.

“I got a hit, so I got up and as soon as I pulled the plug open it was there, it was in the ground,” Pantermoller explained.

He brought it home, thinking he'd make a couple hundred dollars.

“[I] got some of the mud off it and stuff and I cleaned it up and I saw the inscription…it says Elaine and Barry and 10-20 of 1990,” Pantermoller said.

He spent hours online searching for the owner, typing the couple's first names and date until finally discovering their wedding video on Elaine's YouTube account, then sending her a Facebook message.

“She contacted me within minutes that she thought that that was her ring. And I said. 'I think it's your ring too, but all you have to do is tell me what it says inside,' and she typed the exact phrase that was in the ring, and, I said, 'Yep it's yours,’” said Pantermoller.

“I just like screamed,” Fitzgerald said. “I was like, ‘oh my god, they found my wedding ring!”

It was emotional for Pantermoller too -- a find more valuable than any other hit.

“I got the high of finding it in the ground and the high of actually finding the person and being able to do good and do something nice for somebody,” he said.

Pantermoller, who lives in Weymouth, plans to return the ring to Fitzgerald in western Mass. next week. She's now engaged, making new memories, but she plans to give the ring to her daughter.

Cox Media Group