Jump into Manitoba lake turns up a diamond ring

Next time someone tells you to go jump in a lake, it could have a nice ring to it.

That was the case for Courtney Johnson's boyfriend, who was walking out of Manitoba's West Hawk Lake on the Tuesday when his eyes caught the glimmer of a gold band decorated with three diamond stones.

"He was looking down because there's lots of sharp rocks and he saw something shiny so he picked it up," Johnson said, although she didn't believe him at first.

She didn't see him lean down to get the ring, so when he held it up, Johnson's first thought was that her boyfriend was about to propose.

And she wasn't ready for that step yet.

"I was like, this is a little too soon," she said, now laughing about it.

Once she realized that a proposal was not happening, Johnson looked inside the ring for an engraving and found a date from 1992 along with something else, but she's not saying what that is.

She hopes the rightful owner of the ring can provide that information as proof.

Johnson put a photo of the ring on Facebook and her post has been shared nearly 11,000 times as of Thursday afternoon.

"I wasn't expecting that at all, but I'm glad it's being shared because maybe the rightful owner or family will come forward for it," she said. "If I lost a ring, and even if it was 10 years later or 15 years later and somebody found it, I would be so happy."

In addition to posting the photo, Johnson took the ring to a number of area stores to see if anyone had reported it lost or if they knew anything about the possible owner.

The RCMP also have the information about the ring, in case they get contacted about it.

But until the owner is located, Johnson is keeping it safe.

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