While cutting down a Christmas tree for his family at a Virginia tree farm in 2010, Wayne Corprew lost his wedding ring. He only realized it was missing when he got into his truck to drive home. He returned to search but couldn't find it. He then informed Sue Bostic, the owner of the 20-hectare farm.
Bostic wrote Corprew's name and phone number on a yellow sticky note and pinned it to the bulletin board in her office. "Lost wedding ring. Please don't throw away," the note read.
15 years later, Corprew was astonished to receive a call from Darren Gilreath, Bostic's nephew and the farm's new owner. Gilreath's wife had found the mud-caked ring while planting corn last month. She then checked the bulletin board, saw the note, and called Corprew.
"How did they find that ring on a 20-hectare Christmas tree farm 15 years later?", the 61-year-old Corprew said.
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Wayne Corprew reunited with his wedding ring after 15 years. Photo: WP |
Wayne Corprew reunited with his wedding ring after 15 years. Photo: WP
He had bought the ring in the summer of 2008 for about 1,100 USD. After informing Bostic, he returned to the farm the next day with a metal detector to search the snow-covered ground. He and Bostic's son, Jake, searched for several months, but to no avail.
"It was like looking for a needle in a haystack," he said. In the summer of 2011, he gave up and bought an identical ring, but he still occasionally inquired at the farm over the years and checked his truck's cabin whenever he washed the vehicle.
The ring's sentimental value diminished when Corprew divorced in 2013, but the farm didn't give up. When Bostic sold the farm to Gilreath in 2018, she told him not to remove the note.
"This is important. If you find the ring, you have to keep it," she instructed.
The note remained on the board, even as Gilreath added family photos and new cards.
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The ring and the note that stayed on the bulletin board for 15 years. Photo: WP |
The ring and the note that stayed on the bulletin board for 15 years. Photo: WP
When Corprew retrieved the ring last month, he realized the Gilreaths had found it near the exact spot where he had cut down the tree in 2010.
Corprew remarried in late 2022 and now wears a black and blue titanium wedding band. He is considering keeping the old ring to recount its remarkable story.
Besides the ring, the Gilreaths' bulletin board holds information about other lost items on the farm, including a necklace, a credit card, and a pair of glasses. The Gilreaths said finding Corprew's ring "gives them hope" they might locate the other items, even if it takes another decade or two.
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The approximate location where the ring was found on the farm. Photo: WP |
The approximate location where the ring was found on the farm. Photo: WP
Duc Trung (According to Washington Post, AP)
