14 DAY TRIAL // A New Jersey woman lost her 25th wedding anniversary ring at Newark Liberty International Airport on Valentine's Day but, fortunately for her, she was able to recover the expensive jewelry thanks to a good Samaritan who found it and turned it in.
On February 14, Navneet Guleria from Pennington, NJ, was preparing to board a flight to London with her husband when she lost a 4-carat diamond ring she had received as a gift three years before, on her wedding anniversary.
Before passing through a security checkpoint at the airport, the 52-year-old woman says she took the ring off and hooked it to a bracelet inside her purse, but apparently she accidentally dropped it before being scanned.
Guleria only realized the ring was missing on the plane, when she wanted to put it back on her finger.
“Apparently I dropped it. I never noticed,” she said. “I just panicked. I was really really upset, but the cabin was already closed.”
The woman says the ring has strong sentimental value and she worried she would never see it again, but, luckily, another passenger found the piece of jewelry and gave it to Transportation Security Administration Officer Meredith Grillos.
Grillos gave the ring to her supervisor, and it was eventually turned in to TSA's lost and found office.
Although she had little hope she would be able to recover the wedding band, Guleria still contacted the lost and found office when she returned from London a week later. To her surprise, an employee gave her the news that the ring had been found and it was in the TSA's office inventory.
“I couldn't believe my ears. I was ecstatic. I was so happy,” Guleria told New Jersey News.
Global Gateway Alliance is now trying to track down the mystery good Samaritan who helped return the ring to the rightful owner in order to give him or her a reward – a $500 (€364) flight voucher from United Airways.
The group has launched a digital and social-media campaign to find the person who first found the ring and turned it in. They will work with the Transportation Security Administration to make sure the right person gets the reward.
“While all of us wait in long lines, struggle with security protocols and hear horror stories of thefts by airport workers, it’s important to know that our fellow travelers have our backs and TSA agents work hard for passengers,” said Alliance Chairman Joseph Sitt, according to New York Post.