Last month, a boy was thrilled when he found a $40,000 diamond ring on a Florida beach, and he quickly became a metal detector angel.
Joseph Cook discovered the buried ring on Hammock Beach in St. Augustine and immediately shared a video of himself digging it up on his social media, hoping to find people who might have lost the rings.
“No way, my boy,” the 37-year-old man can be heard exclaiming in shock. Look at this bad boy! It’s real, friends! “This is the biggest diamond I’ve ever found on the beach.”
When he took it to jewelers, they reportedly told him that the precious stone, mounted on a platinum band, was worth $40,000.
Two weeks later, Joseph started receiving calls from an unknown number. At first, he ignored them but then realized they could be the owners of the ring. He joined a video chat with a couple from Jacksonville who had suffered a similar loss.
The woman exclaimed, “Oh my God, I can’t believe it,” and cried. Joseph returned the ring to its owners three weeks after finding it near the same beach in St. Johns County.
“That was awesome,” he recalled. “I’ve returned $60,000 worth of items this year, but nothing like this before.” He claimed he wasn’t upset about returning it and is searching for the owners of other rings he has found in the past.
He even wears a necklace with about 25 rings on it in the hope of returning them to their rightful owners. “Karma is always beneficial. Every time I return an item, I find something better, so I’m glad I was able to return it.”
