When Sheridan resident Teri Rowland lost her wedding ring at a remote exit just off Interstate 25, she may have hoped to see it again, but didn’t expect it.
Thanks to social media and the effort of a good Samaritan, Rowland’s unlikely hope was realized.
Teri Rowland lost the ring last Sunday while she and her husband, Randy, were driving home from Wheatland and stopped at exit 165 at Deer Creed Road to let their dog out.
“I had just taken my wedding ring off to put lotion on my hand and set the wedding ring in my lap and my husband said, ‘Let’s pull off right here,’” she said. “So, I didn’t even think about it and jumped out of the truck, and I’m sure the ring just fell right off my lap and right next to where we had parked.”
After the dog took care of business, the couple and pooch were back on the interstate heading north again.
It was about 30 minutes later when Rowland discovered the ring was missing.
“I realized I didn’t have my ring on and started looking around the truck and couldn’t find it anywhere,” she told Cowboy State Daily, adding she assumed it had just fallen somewhere in the car. “So, I said, ‘We’ll look for it when we stop.’”
When they did stop, Rowland couldn’t find it.
Truck Search
“When we finally got home, we stripped the whole truck down looking for it. It was nowhere to be found,” she said. “Luckily, I knew approximately where we pulled off and my husband knew exactly. At that exit, I recognized it had an interesting patch of gravel.
“It had caught my eye that there was a cattle guard and we parked exactly between the second and third reflector pole.”
Rowland went to Google Maps, found the location and put a pin on it. Her plan was to drive down this weekend to search.
Randy encouraged to try a Facebook post. She looked and saw that Glenrock had a community page and asked to join so she could share her problem.
“I posted Sunday night, and I had a couple of people respond,” she said. “I told them directions exactly where we had parked. One of the ladies the next day said she was headed that direction.”
That lady was Brandy Dority of Glenrock, went right to the exact location Rowland was able to provide. From there, it was difficult to find the missing wedding ring.
“She was pretty clear about where she though it was lost, so I just took my dog and went up to the exit ramp,” Dority said. “I’m a rock hounder, so I am always looking at the dirt and looking for fun shiny things. It was pretty much where she said.”
Her Own Story
Dority said when she saw Rowland’s post, her thoughts immediately returned to the time she lost her own wedding band several years ago.
“My husband found it about a year and a half later in the pen where we keep our horses,” she said. “I know where she was coming from with not having something that means a lot to you.”
After finding the ring Monday, Dority mailed it to Rowland, who got it back Tuesday and posted a photo of it on her hand, next to her husband’s matching ring. The rings are silver with elk ivory and were given to the couple by her husband’s uncle as replacement wedding bands.
“I had said on my Facebook post that I was offering a reward, and luckily she has Venmo,” Rowland said. “So, I Venmoed her the reward money and within 48 hours it was solved and everything was just set perfect.”
Rowland said she and her husband have been married for 25 years and the uncle who made the rings has since passed away. So, a true replacement would not have been possible.
“They are unique, and they are special, and I feel pretty darn lucky to get it back,” she said. “Facebook can sometimes be frustrating and it’s really nice when Facebook works for you in a positive direction.”
Dority said looking for the ring was the “human” thing to do and just “the way you should treat other people.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
