A diamond ring accidentially tossed into the garbage was recovered from a trash pile at a Massachusetts waste-to-energy plant. (Photo/Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.)

CNHI News Service

HAVERHILL, Mass. — Joan Sawyer accidentally tossed an heirloom diamond ring into the trash before she went to bed, then remembered in the morning what she'd done as she watched a garbage truck lumber down the street.

But she didn’t panic, quickly calling officials at the hauling company to ask for help. They invited her to come to the waste-to-energy facility to await the truck's arrival and observe its trash dump,though they admitted it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Several hours later, as truck No. 2444 dumped its load for sorting, she noticed the small white plastic bag that contained her trash.

"I picked it up and almost fainted," said Sawyer. "I was shaking and all the workers were so happy they were hugging me."

Sawyer said the accidental disposal occurred when she cleaned the ring and wrapped it in a paper towel to dry. She then became distracted and tossed the towel into a wastebasket.

She realized her mistake when she awoke the next morning, went to put the ring on and saw the trash truck going down her street.

"I thought about running after the truck," she said. "But the driver wasn't going to dump it in the road."
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Details for this story were provided by The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.