Elsa Green will always remember her visit to the beach in Eagle River, Michigan.
On that day, she had just reached the beach with two friends and her child, and they all intended to have a pleasant day simply unwinding and having fun.
As they had just set their possessions on the sand, she noticed something from the side of her vision – a large, black beetle crawled across her baseball cap.
Without thinking, she tossed her cap, hoping the beetle would take off… and it did, but so did her diamond engagement ring and matching wedding band that were inside the cap.
In that instance, her heart dropped.
An Unfortunate Series Of Events
“I’d been donning those rings daily for 17 years. But at that moment, I believed they were lost. I’d removed them to apply my sunscreen,” Elsa Green told the Washington Post.
As soon as they grasped what had transpired, she and her companions instantly commenced searching for her rings.
They examined the vast stretch of sand on Lake Superior, but could not locate anything.
A kind gentleman at the beach with a metal detector attempted to assist them, but luck was not on their side. “He didn’t uncover anything, and neither did we. I felt terrible about it,” Green mentioned.
One of Green’s friends, Colleen Parks, rushed to the sheriff’s department in Eagle River to inquire if they could assist, but was regretfully informed they could not.
However, after Colleen exited the office, Sgt. Brad Pelli, of the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office, thought of a solution and hurried to the beach.
His partner, a 5-year-old Dutch Shepherd named Dogo, was extensively trained to find hidden drugs, weapons, and also detect human scents on small objects.
Consequently, Sgt. Pelli considered letting him try.
“In the past, he’s often discovered stolen firearms in the woods or a knife at a crime scene. Searching for a lost wedding ring was a first,” Sgt. Pelli remarked.
K9 Dogo Rescues The Day
Upon Sgt. Pelli’s arrival at the beach with his K9, he instructed everyone to gather their belongings and vacate the beach for a brief moment. This would give Dogo a better opportunity to catch Green’s scent on the rings.
He issued a “search” command to the dog and allowed him to proceed as he wished.
After a few minutes, K9 Dogo plopped down on the sand, indicating he had discovered something.
Could it possibly be the ring?
Pelli knelt down, examined the area, and indeed, something was sparkling in the sand. Yes, it was Green’s engagement ring.
“I told him, ‘Good boy!’ ” numerous times,” Sgt. Pelli recounted.
Green was astounded that the dog found her ring, and she was utterly shocked. She expressed her gratitude profusely; however, there was another ring missing in the sand… her wedding band.
This time, Sgt. Pelli returned alone to the same spot and meticulously sifted his fingers through the sand. He located it immediately as the wedding band was just a few inches beneath the surface.
“K9 Dogo, you will always be my hero! Dogo applied his training and skills effectively and indeed, he found my rings! Dogo, I’ll be bringing you ice cream as a token of appreciation!,” Green posted on her Facebook page.
Thanks to K9 Dogo, what could have ended as a complete disaster transformed into an exceedingly joyful day full of unexpected delights.
“I’m still in awe of it all. What are the chances of spotting those tiny rings amid all that sand?,” Green stated to the Washington Post.
