Man sifts through 18 tons of trash to find wife's wedding rings

After his wife accidentally threw away her wedding rings in a bag of popcorn, Steve Van Ysseldyk persevered through 18 tons of garbage at a British Columbia landfill.

While having dinner with her husband at a restaurant near their home in Mission, British Columbia, Canada, in August, Jeannine Van Ysseldyk realized her two wedding rings were missing when she went to wash her hands.

"When she discovered the rings were gone, my wife's face was distraught," Steve Van Ysseldyk said. "They hold immense sentimental value." The couple has been married for 26 years and has three children.

Initially, they thought the rings might have fallen down the drain. However, after reviewing their car's dashcam footage, they realized Jeannine wasn't wearing them on the way to the restaurant.

Checking their home security camera revealed the rings likely disappeared the night they went to the movies on 11/8. Upon returning home and opening the car door that night, Jeannine spilled leftover popcorn onto the lawn. She scooped up the popcorn, put it back into the bag, and tossed it into their organic waste bin. The bag was biodegradable.

Jeannine Van Ysseldyk's wedding rings in British Columbia, Canada. Photo: WP

The next morning, Steve decided to go to the Mission Sanitary Landfill to search for the rings. He was confident he could find the blue and yellow striped popcorn bag among the mounds of trash.

Denny Webster, who manages the composting facility at the landfill, thought Steve was "crazy," but agreed to let him search through approximately 18 tons of organic waste, the equivalent of about three truckloads.

"I felt sorry for him, so I used an excavator to divide the garbage into smaller piles. The waste was wet, smelly, and consisted of grass clippings mixed with food waste. He was lucky because the day before we had to process 50 truckloads," Webster said.

Wearing gloves, Steve dug through the rotting food with a shovel. After an hour of searching, he found the blue and yellow popcorn bag. Inside was one of his wife's wedding rings. "I was totally shocked," Webster said. "At first, I thought he wouldn't find it."

The organic waste pile at the Mission Sanitary Landfill in British Columbia, Canada. Photo: WP

But one ring was still missing. Steve continued his search in another corner of the garbage pile and found it after only a few minutes. "I carefully checked and spotted the other one. I was so happy and relieved," he said.

Jeannine was in disbelief when her husband returned home with both rings. "I thought they were gone forever. He's an amazing man, an amazing husband," she posted on social media.

Steve acknowledged he couldn't have done it without Webster's help. "I'm very grateful for his time," Steve said.