An Indiana man was reunited with his wedding ring that he lost on St. Pete Beach three years ago.
Bart Naylor said he lost his engraved ring while vacationing and thought it was lost for good.
“It was sentimental to me because I had it engraved," Naylor said. "If anything was to happen to Rachel, we would always be one.”
He was devastated after it fell to the bottom of the Gulf.
“I had my ring engraved shortly after my wife was diagnosed with MS, and I thought to myself I could never get it back,” Naylor said. “I was more mad at myself.”
But in a twist of fate, Rober Osmann found it in the water three years later with a metal detector.
“I was surprised that it was lost for three years before it was found," said Osmann. "Because people who metal detect do it out here a lot, and it’s surprising to have something sit out here that long.”
Osmann said he’s convinced it was luck that landed him the ring and then successfully tracked down the couple using social media.
“Just getting over the right spot and digging up a ring,” Osmann said.
On Sunday, Bart and Rachel renewed their vows in the spot near where the ring was lost.
Once the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort and Southwest Airlines heard the story, they donated wedding services, free hotel rooms and airline tickets to give the couple a ceremony they’ll never forget.
“I can’t even explain it, I’m on cloud nine,” Rachel Naylor said.
That’s exactly how Bart says he wanted his wife to feel. She’s been battling with multiple sclerosis for years, but during their ceremony it wasn’t about her condition. Just love, a waterfront ceremony and the metal detector detective serving as their ring bearer.
Bart says since he has a history of losing rings, he’s thinking about putting this ring in a safety deposit box to make sure he never loses it again.