Labrador man finds woman's lost wedding ring in Michigan parking lot
Wayne Bursey says he was 'meant to be' in the right place at the right time
It was as if fate had a hand in it all.
That's what Wayne Bursey from Labrador City says he believes about his recent trip to Grand Rapids, Mich., when he found a woman's wedding ring in a parking lot outside of a hockey game — and was able to get it back to her.
Bursey said there were so many little things that led him to finding that ring.
He was in the United States for a five-week trip, most of which was spent in Grand Rapids to visit his daughter, Mandy Bursey, her husband, Jim Bowman, and their 18-month-old daughter.
Something compelled me to reach down and pick [it] up ... And lo and behold, here was a beautiful diamond ring.- Wayne Bursey
They purchased tickets for an AHL game on March 4.
"The whole family came down with the flu bug when we were down there.... We didn't know if we'd be able to get to the game or not," Wayne Bursey said.
About an hour before the puck dropped, he and his son-in-law finally decided to go.
They drove around the parking lot by the Van Andel Arena, and settled on a spot.
"I looked over the dash, and off to the side, and about 125 feet away, there was a closer parking spot, so I said, 'Jim, [there's] a better spot up right there.'" Bursey said.
So they drove to that closer spot instead.
"At first, I thought it was the top of a pop can. But then something compelled me to reach down and pick [it] up ... And lo and behold, here was a beautiful diamond ring," he said.
Bursey said it was heavy for its size.
"It was a beautiful, big diamond, and embedded in the band all the way around were probably 25 or 30 smaller diamonds," he said.
Bursey said he took a picture of the ring, texted it to his daughter, put the ring in his pocket, and went in to watch the hockey game.
He said he thought about turning it into the arena's box office, but feared it might never find its way back to its rightful owner.
Finding the owner
The next day, his daughter went online to Craigslist, a classified ad website, and was about to post an ad for the ring — when she saw the ring's owner had already posted one.
"Mandy messaged her back right away, and [the ring's owner] was just totally flabbergasted," Bursey said.
He said he was elated that they managed to find the owner, Chantal Brown, who Bursey described as "a young mother of two, and a very, very nice, very charming young lady."
I think I was meant to be at that particular parking spot, at that particular time.- Wayne Bursey
Bursey said it turned out that she had lost the ring only a half hour before he had found it.
They met up with Brown, who recently moved to Michigan, and returned her wedding ring.
"We just hugged and she was crying ... She was really taken aback by it all," Bursey said.
"I got messages from pretty well all her family members and friends, and [it's] just unbelievable how everything turned [out] the way it did."
Bursey said he never asked how much the ring was worth, but was told it was 2.5 carats.
"There's so many little things that happened — I think I was meant to be at that particular parking spot, at that particular time," he said.