A ring found among the debris of Florida’s recent hurricanes awaits its owner
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Scattered across Florida’s hurricane-ravaged communities are piles of debris, remnants of what were once homes. Cherished memories — photo albums, family heirlooms, and tokens of love — swallowed by floodwaters and carried miles away, are now reduced to mere fragments and discarded amid the wreckage.
But in one of these piles of lost memories, a small, inconspicuous velvet black box was discovered with a ring and a note that read: “I was 18 when my parents gave it to me.”
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Now, Joe Kovach, the engineer managing one of the debris sites in Tarpon Springs, Florida, where the box was found, is searching for its owner.
“Everyone has been basically dumping their entire lives onto the curb after the storm when everything flooded. My own boss’ house had 30 inches (of water) in it, and I saw his face and just how devastating it can be for everyone,” Kovach, an engineer with Pinellas County Public Works, told CNN.
“A lot of people in the community were really affected by these two storms, if there’s just a little bit I can do to give back, then that’s perfect.”
A contractor, who was gathering and condensing debris with an excavator, discovered the ring when he looked down and saw the box.
“This was a needle in a haystack for sure. For something like that to survive all that when everything else was so wet and saturated, that was kind of incredible,” Kovach said.
Although the ring was found after Hurricane Milton, Kovach is sure the treasure was initially lost amid the ruins of Hurricane Helene, based on the pile of debris it came from, which Pinellas County Public Works tracks. It is likely the owner of the ring is from Crystal Beach, Ozona, or Palm Harbor, Kovach said.
On Tuesday, after the contractor informed him about the ring, Kovach posted a photo of the box and the note on several local community Facebook pages, asking if it belonged to anyone. He did not include a photo or description of the ring to ensure it is returned to the rightful owner who can accurately describe it. On the inside lid of the box is a gold engraving with the jewelry brand, “The Danbury Mint.”
