Maries County sheriff helps find lost engagement ring
leaderjournal.com/article/20160601/NEWS/160609864
Thanks to the help of a local sheriff and a martial arts instructor, a St. James woman who lost her engagement ring on Memorial Day has her ring back.
Linda Huffman who is engaged to Steve Kozlowski said she was spending time with family on Monday swimming in the Dry Fork Creek on their property when she decided to climb up a rock and jump off it.
However, during her endeavor, she slipped. While she was able to catch herself, she saw her ring slip from her finger into the water.
Her family helped search the creek for the ring, but even with swim goggles and a snorkel, no one could find it.
Huffman and Kozlowski continued looking but had to give up when it began storming.
“I was heart-broken,” Huffman said, adding that she doesn’t wear jewelry. Her engagement ring is the only piece of jewelry she owns besides her class ring.
She asked her fiancé if he knew of any scuba divers, and Kozlowski remembered that his friend, Dennis Jasper, recently got her scuba certification. Jasper and Kozlowski know each other through the K.N.A.P.S. (Kids Need A Place to Start) program that helps underprivileged children and veterans to hunt deer and turkey.
“Steve said, ’hey I need a big favor,’” Jasper recalled and Kozlowski recounted to Jasper what happened to the ring.
Jasper, who has taught martial arts with the Maries County Sheriff’s Department for three years, contacted Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman, who agreed with no hesitation to help search that evening of March 30.
With his scuba gear, Heitman searched the creek, where Huffman said she fell. However, after running out of air, the search was suspended.
But both Jasper and Heitman said they would be back the next afternoon to continue to search.
Huffman remembers her fiancé telling her that if anyone would be persistent and not give up, it would be Heitman.
And so, Heitman and Jasper returned with their scuba gear on Tuesday. When Huffman said she may have fallen backwards, Heitman and Jasper began looking in a new area and within minutes, Heitman found the ring.
Heitman said the ring was stuck in the ground and the visibility under water was not high.
“You couldn’t see 3 inches,” Jasper added.
Huffman said she remembers Heitman having a funny look on his face, and jokingly, he came up and proposed with the ring.
Huffman said she has heard nice things about Heitman as a law enforcement officer, but noted that he is “just golden” as a person who was willing to help out. |