A couple who were left gutted after losing a wedding ring found it again in an unusual chain of events - including a metal detectorist, Facebook and Google. Emily and Wayne Wolstenholme realised his ring was missing after a beach walk on April 4.
She put out a plea on Facebook but didn't hold out much hope. However, when looking through photos of their dog Emily spotted the ring on the sand in the background. And, using the phone's Google location feature, she directed local metal detectorist Brendan Sansom to the exact spot.
Miraculously the ring was located just 50 yards away - and was returned to a happy Wayne, 34, just a few days later. HR worker Emily, 35, said: "In the time between I lost it and it was found, the tide would have been in and out countless times.
"The sea can do a lot with a tiny ring, so when I saw Brendan's post saying that his friend had found it for us, we were over the moon."
Emily and Wayne, who have been married for 14 years, sometimes walk their dog Alan at Sunny Sands beach. Wayne had also planned to go sea swimming with Emily's sister, and while he did, Emily looked after his wedding ring.
She was taking pictures of Alan when she dropped her phone, and when she leant down to pick it up the ring fell out her pocket. The couple then went home that evening - and realised the ring was missing.
Emily said: “My husband and sister have been going sea swimming for a while now, so I went to watch and took the dog. My husband asked me to hold onto his ring so I zipped it up in my pocket.
“But when I got my phone out to take a picture of the dog, it must have fallen out because we got home and it wasn't in there anymore. We were absolutely gutted, and I was sure we'd never see it again because of the high tide."
Emily posted in a local Facebook group on the off-chance someone had picked up the ring, and she was contacted by Brendan, a metal detectors. With the help of his friend Kris Alden, he offered to use his equipment to try and find Wayne's ring.
Originally, Emily had a rough idea of where they were the time she lost it. But after spotting the ring in one of the photos of Alan, she was able to give Brendan an exact location.
Google Photos had recorded the coordinates of where the photo was taken, and, three days after she'd lost the ring, Brendan and Kris started their search. They had no luck looking in the exact spot, but they didn't give up, and after a few hours scanning, heard the beep they were waiting for.
The ring had been moved 50 yards from where Emily dropped it, but thankfully hadn't been swept out to sea. Emily said: "Google photos recorded the coordinates, so instead of giving him a rough area of where we were standing, I was able to give him an exact location.
"That detail was key, and although the ring wasn't exactly where I'd dropped it, it was pretty close by. Brendan posted a photo of the ring on the same Facebook group saying Kris had found it, and we couldn't believe our luck.
"Different carats make different noises on the machine, so we were able to prove it was Wayne's ring. That afternoon we drove round to pick it up and we couldn't be more grateful - the kindness of strangers is amazing.
"However, needless to say, I'm not allowed to look after his ring anymore."
