It took 55 years to get there, but a wedding ring lost in a plane crash in the woods in Washington state has found its way back to the family of the woman who owned it. A logger found the ring in 1997, and just recently tracked down the daughter of a couple killed in a plane crash in 1959.

The New Jersey woman is happy to be reunited with her mother’s wedding ring, more than half a century after her parents were killed in an accident when her dad was flying them over western Washington in a small plane, reports the New York Daily News.

The ring wasn’t among the possessions of her parents recovered when the crash site was finally found in 1974, but instead sat waiting to be found until 1997, when a logger out for a walk found it lodged inside a tree near the site.

He did some research and found out the name of the owners, and kept the ring safe for 17 more years until he could bring it back to the family, if there were any.

“I never once though it belonged to me. I just was hoping there was a daughter or a family member I could turn it over to,” he said.

Recently his nephew helped him with his research, and found the couple’s daughter was living in New Jersey. The two got in touch, and the logger verified her identity before mailing the ring back.

“It was like my mother was reaching down from heaven,” the 78-year-old says of her luck.

New Jersey woman reunited with dead mother’s wedding ring 55 years after tragic plane death [New York Daily News]
Lost and found: An incredible reunion more than 55 years in the making [Q13Fox.com]

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