Wisconsin man's wedding ring returned after 14 years in a lake

Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin man who lost his wedding ring in a lake near his home had it returned to him 14 years later.

Mike and Tracy Kroening, who have a home on the shore of the Turtle Flambeau Flowage, near Mercer, said they were visiting Swimmer's Island with neighbors in 2009 when Mike lost his platinum wedding band while tossing a kid into the water.

"As I threw him, he grabbed my hand and pulled my platinum wedding band off of my hand, and it was lost," he told WJFW-TV. "So we immediately quarantined the area, so to speak, went and got diving masks and we looked for the wedding band for many, many hours and days."

The couple said they made regular trips to Swimmer's Island, but never found any sign of the ring.

Turtle Flambeau Flowage and Trude Lake Association said in a Facebook post that another visitor to the area recently found the ring and turned it over to the association to search for its owner.

The post quickly came to Kroening's attention.

"I saw a picture of a ring, it looked just like my ring, and again, 14 years later it was stained with the color of the water," he said.

Kroening reached out to Bill Stewart, who runs the Facebook page.

"What just blew me away, was within a half an hour, I had a message from Mike. First of all, I was surprised we found anybody, and second of all, I was surprised it came so quickly," Stewart said.

Kroening described the inscription to Stewart and was soon reunited with his ring.

He said the reunion was "like a needle in a haystack or winning the lottery, or something along those lines, but I haven't won the lottery yet."