Good Samaritans, armed with metal detectors, recover wedding ring

CHILTON, Wis. (WBAY) - A recent outing to a local festival turned into heartbreak for a Denmark woman.

After returning from Beer Fest in Chilton, she discovered she had lost her wedding ring. But thanks to her emotional Facebook post, some good Samaritans sprang into action.

At the end of April, Mike and Mindy Johnson celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. A few weeks ago, they joined a group of friends at the Wisconsin Micro-Brewers Beer Festival at the Calumet County fairgrounds.

“A fun Sunday event. The weather was beautiful,” recalls Johnson.

So nice, in fact, Johnson decided she’d better play it safe before getting out of the car.

“I was putting sunscreen on my hands, took my rings off, set my rings in my lap and I, not even thinking, got out of the car and they fell onto the ground, and I didn’t realize it until about 9 o’clock that evening when I got home from Beer Fest,” explains Johnson.

Panicked, Johnson had a very sleepless night.

“So, we got up the next morning and we got there before the sun, came up and tried to look for it and with no luck,” says Johnson.

That’s when Johnson turned to Facebook with a plea. “It was a last-ditch effort,” says Johnson.

In the post, she described what had happened, where she thought she lost the ring, and a picture of it.

By that afternoon, the post had 1,300 shares. One of the people who saw it was Jennifer Finley from Chilton.

“And saw that she had lost her ring and I’m like, ‘Oh, Randy, that’s at the fairgrounds. It’s right uptown. Go look for it,” says Jennifer Finley.

Husband Randy, though, an avid metal detector, took a little convincing.

“I was kind of skeptical. I was like, yeah, it’s been a little while, somebody’s done found that ring by now,” says Randy Finley.

But Jennifer insisted, and around 6 p.m. Randy and another metal-detecting friend, Ross Baltz, decided to meet at the fairgrounds.

“Probably wasn’t here 10 minutes and Ross showed up, and we started going really good at it, and probably another minute after that, that’s when I found the ring,” says Randy Finley.

“I pulled up the picture, we looked at the picture and sure enough it was the ring, then I messaged Mindy right away, showed her the picture. We found it, and she couldn’t believe it,” adds Baltz.

“I was out with some girlfriends from high school for dinner, and I got a message from someone I did not know saying ‘We found your ring,’” says Johnson.

Shocked and full of gratitude, Johnson immediately headed for Chilton.

“I was emotional, and I hugged them multiple times, and yeah, it was pretty crazy that complete strangers went to the fairgrounds and went to look for my ring,” says Johnson.

“It was humbling to give the ring back and her to meet us and pull in the driveway and tears coming out of her eyes. I mean, it’s 25 years of marriage,” says Baltz.

“It touched my heart when she came to pick it up for sure, like just seeing her face and look on her face when she got that ring back was priceless. I will never, ever forget that,” adds Jennifer Finley.

“I’m very grateful, very grateful,” says Johnson with a smile.

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