- March 12, 2025
For Dave and Krista Wilson, the day started like any other. They brought the kids to school, went to work and afterwards took their kids to their activities; but the end result was Krista deeply upset. Her engagement ring and wedding band had been lost at the beach.
“I noticed the look on my wife’s face and saw a tear dropping down her cheek,” Dave Wilson wrote via email. “My wife is never upset, so I knew there was something very wrong. All she could manage to do at that moment was lift her left hand, and I immediately noticed her engagement ring and wedding band were gone.”
The couple had been married for five months and were engaged for nine months before the marriage.
“This beautiful ring that meant so much to us and the beginning of our lives together was just simply gone,” he said.
With high hopes, Dave put a post on Craigslist in the Lost and Found section. He stated that the ring had been lost in the surf at St. Augustine Beach and that he would appreciate anyone’s help in returning it if by some chance it was found.
The next day, Palm Coast residents Toby Santangelo and Ken Dawson, of ToKen Search and Recovery, responded to the ad. Two days later, the metal detecting hobbyists found the ring.
“You cannot imagine the relief and happiness that my wife and I felt,” Dave said. “A ring, lost in the surf in the Atlantic Ocean, sure to be buried under feet of sand with the currents and crashing waves, was retrieved. To be graced by these two men and to see the joy in their faces handing that ring back to my wife — it was evident they do not do this for money, they do this for enjoyment and doing things the right way, paying karma forward in the belief that it will be returned when the time is right.”
