Necklace found in drain after 13 years

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FORT WAYNE, Ind., May 8 (UPI) -- An Indiana woman said she was delighted when the new owners of her old house cleared out a bathroom sink drain and found a diamond necklace she lost in 1999.

Sandy Newlin of Fort Wayne said her mother received a diamond ring from her sister about 50 years ago and had it made into a necklace that she passed down to her daughter about 20 or 25 years ago, The (Fort Wayne) News Gazette reported Tuesday.

Newlin said she searched her home for the necklace, which is a half or three-quarters of a carat set in gold, when it disappeared in 1999, but she was unable to find any trace of the jewel.

Newlin and her husband moved out of the home about three years ago and she said she never expected to see the necklace again until she was contacted by the house's new owner, Tina Panagopoulos.

Panagopoulos said she had unhooked the pipes under the bathroom sink to find out why it had been running slow and she pulled out the diamond necklace.

"It was so cool," Panagopoulos said. "But I didn't feel right keeping it."

Newlin said she is grateful to Panagopoulos for returning the necklace and she now wonders how it wound up in the drain.

"We had a cat," Newlin said. "I don't know if she might have helped it along its way."

"I tend to blame the cat," she said.