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Women reunited with diamond ring flushed down toilet 18 months ago

Sewer workers have reunited a woman with her long-lost wedding ring.

Almost a year and a had ago, Mechelle Rieger accidentally flushed her wedding ring down the toilet.

"I was freaking out," Rieger told KBOI2. "It was horrible, and I just started screaming — I stuck my hands down the toilet, but the ring took off and it was long gone."

Her husband, Paul, took apart the toilet. He entered the crawlspace beneath the house, hoping to track down the $6,000 ring.

It was gone.

Insurance enabled the Idaho woman to get a replacement ring, but it just wasn't the same.

Last week, 18 months after Rieger lost her ring, two sewer workers in Kuna found a diamond ring while undergoing routine maintenance in the Riegers' old neighbourhood. A filtration basket caught the 7-diamond ring.

Carey Knight and Travis Fleming took the diamond ring to the mayor's office the next day. They had no idea how long the ring had been lodged in the sewer.

The story was published on KBOI2. The CBS affiliate and CNN picked up the story. People around the country started calling Kuna City Hall, eager to determine if the lost ring matched their own lost rings.

The owner of the ring was nearby the entire time.

"I received a voice mail from a friend and I just started screaming in the car," Rieger said. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh that's my ring.'"

The next day, Rieger showed up at city hall early, with documents proving the ring was hers.

Knight and Fleming were there to greet the woman with hugs.

"My ring is a symbol of love and it's always there," Rieger said. "This is the best present ever."

"And the best part of it all is in June I celebrate my 25th anniversary with my husband, so this has got to be the best present and the best day ever," Rieger told KTVB.