May 4 (UPI) — Sanitation workers in New Jersey spent an hour and a half digging through the contents of a garbage truck to retrieve a wallet and wedding ring accidentally thrown away by a woman’s 10-year-old son.
Ruth Watson of Vineland said she had placed her wedding ring, wallet and some other items into a Dollar General bag while cleaning up around the house, and her 10-year-old son had confused the bag for trash and placed it out next to the curb.
Watson said she didn’t realize what had happened until after the trash had been collected.
“I can’t tell you how I felt,” Watson told NJ.com. “I had so much to do that day and I couldn’t do a thing. I just kept thinking I’ve got to get that ring back.”
Watson called the Atlantic County Utilities Authority and spoke to a landfill supervisor, Jovani Quiles.
“She sent me a picture of what the wallet looked like and said the ring was inside the wallet,” Quiles said.
The truck that had picked up the trash from Watson’s street dumped out its contents at the landfill and Quiles launched a search with fellow sanitation workers Ramon Nazario, Alfredo Perez and Paul Deola.
The men searched for about an hour and a half before finding the Dollar General bag.
“After about an hour-and-a-half we found it,” Quiles said. “Wallet, phone charger, some stuff she needed for the gym and her ring.”
The ACUA applauded its employees in a Facebook post.
“Thank you Alfredo, Jovani, Paul and Ramon for going above and beyond for a member of the community,” the post said.