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Woman Finds Her Engagement Ring Accidentally Thrown Away In Galt

GALT (CBS13) - It was a virtual needle in a haystack. A man accidentally threw away his wife's engagement ring.

"I was heartbroken; I feel weird when I don't wear it; I take it off at home only, but when I go out I have it on," said Sandy Garcia, who lost her ring.

Sandy took her ring off to wash the dishes. The next morning, her husband grabbed his keys from the counter and heard something drop in the garbage. He was in a rush to get to work so he didn't check what it was and threw the garbage out.

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Sandy realized her ring was missing and searched the house.

"[I] thought maybe I lost it in the house or maybe I dropped it under the stove or fridge," she said.

When that didn't work, Sandy called Cal-Waste, the company in charge of the dumpsters at the Garcia's Galt apartment complex.

"They said they would see what they could do," she said.

That was Friday night. By Monday morning, "they had the bin from my apartment at California Waste," she said.

Sandy had called just in time.

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"I was able to contact the route driver who was scheduled to service her apartment complex. I found out he hadn't been there yet," she said Cal-Waste route supervisor Norm Worthen.

Worthen sent another truck to bring the bin to the Cal-Waste yard.

"We brought in a forklift and turned the container upside down and put the contents on the floor," said Worthen.

Once Sandy identified her trash, Worthen started going piece-by-piece.

"All of a sudden, there was something round covered with some goo. I pulled it off and wiped it off and said this is it," said Sandy. "It's a tiny thing to find in a huge pile of garbage. When he pulled it out I was just shocked."

"Here at our company we just try to do more than we are expected to do," said Worthen.

Worthen says the key to finding a lost item in the trash is to call for help immediately so workers can isolate the bin. Once trucks unload at the landfill, it's nearly impossible to find a lost item.

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