Workers Dig Through Trash to Help Iowa Teen Find Important Ring

Sep 05, 2023

Here's your feel-good story of the week!

Emily Dickerson, a 17-year-old high school senior from Council Bluffs, was recently the recipient of a very good deed. According to the Des Moines Register, Emily was on a school trip in Texas back in June when she lost something very important to her. During lunch one day at McGee Beach in Corpus Christi, Emily took off a set of four rings and set them inside her lunch box from Subway. Without thinking, she threw away the box without removing the rings. Unfortunately, one of those rings was a gift from her grandmother that contained her late father's ashes.

When Emily realized her mistake, she was heartbroken. She called her mom Tina to tell her the bad news, and Tina knew she had to help. She ended up calling the Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation Department and leaving them a voicemail to see if there was anything they could do. When park operations supervisor Laura Perez heard the voicemail, she went right to work. She called her team and they began looking for the ring. A post from Pubity says,

"They spent over three hours sifting through about four tons of trash in a 40-yard dumpster, which has accumulated three days' worth of garbage in the scorching 100-degree heat over the weekend."

All the searching eventually paid off! Emily's ring ended up being found in the very last bag the workers went through. Laura even sent the workers back out a second time to locate the remaining three rings! She mailed them back to the family in Iowa, who was incredibly grateful. Tina told the Des Moines Register:

"My opinion is anyone who believes in a higher power, this truly is a blessing. It's a miracle in my eyes. If it wasn't a higher power, it definitely was an angel on her shoulder."

Shout out to all the Texans who took the time to help locate Emily's precious ring! It's good to know that there are so many kind people willing to help out a total stranger from hundreds of miles away. We love a happy ending!