Garbage men help woman search through trash to find missing wedding rings

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A woman is thanking a group of garbage men who helped her sort through piles of garbage to find her lost wedding and engagement rings.

Tiffany Otterbeck of Staten Island, New York, was preparing meatloaf for her family for dinner. The busy, working mom of a 2-year-old and 8-month-old washed her hands and removed her rings, placing them in a paper towel.

It wasn’t until the next day at work that she realized her mistake.

"I like to clean up as I'm going along, so I put both paper towels in the empty package that the meat came in, and put them in the kitchen trash," Otterbeck told SILive.com.

She frantically called her mother and asked her to bring in the trash from the curb. But the sanitation truck had just picked up the garbage.

Otterbeck quickly got in touch with the Department of Sanitation. She says she’s grateful she immediately got assistance.

The Sanitation Department pulled the truck and promised the trash inside wouldn’t be dumped.

Otterbeck, her husband of five years and her father-in-law went to search for their trash bag. A group of sanitation workers pitched in too.

Finally, with their help, she found her platinum wedding and engagement rings.

“They really helped,” Otterbeck said. “They just got right in there and helped me. I couldn’t believe it … to find the rings in tons of garbage!”

Cox Media Group