Monique Zemartis doesn't usually take her wedding ring off.
But after a stone had fallen off the ring, she decided she was going to have it repaired. She put the ring in her wallet without realizing the zipper of the wallet was broken.
Soon after, the ring was gone.
For a month, she searched sites such as eBay and Google trying to find the ring. She avoided telling her husband, Christopher Zemartis — it's not something you'd like to tell your spouse, she said.
On the day Zemartis decided she would throw in the towel and file a homeowner's insurance claim on the ring, she scrolled through Facebook and stumbled across a Lincoln Police Department post on a lost ring.
LPD's post stated a community member had turned in a ring they had found in early September in the parking lot of AutoZone at 29th Street and Cornhusker Highway.
Zemartis is a regular customer there — she and her husband own Anything Automotive on Saunders Avenue.Â
So she contacted LPD and was reunited with her ring Oct. 13.
"It was kind of scary," Zemartis said. "I kept looking for it over and over and kept telling myself it would show up, so maybe I just willed it into existence."
Grant Richards, property and evidence manager for LPD, says found items can be challenging. When a unique item like a ring is found, police ask for the public's assistance.
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All found items are only held for 30 days before they are disposed of.Â
Of the average of 2,500 found items turned into LPD each year, Richards says the most common are drugs, phones, keys, wallets, and credit and debit cards.
Drugs are tossed, identification or Social Security cards are mailed to the state's DMV or Social Security Administration office, and debit and credit cards are shredded.Â
In cases where LPD cannot locate the owner of a valuable item such as jewelry or vehicle and bike parts, Richards says items are auctioned online. Vehicle and bike parts are sold during LPD's monthly vehicle and bike auction.
After less than a day of the ring being posted on LPD's Facebook page, Zemartis was able to give police a perfect description of her ring.
"It was so funny, when I picked it up the officer said, 'It's like Cinderella, it fits!'" Zemartis said.Â
Although Zemartis wanted to reward the Lincoln man who turned in her ring, LPD was not able to give out his information.
"We knew this ring meant something to someone, so everyone in my office was really excited to get this back to her," Richards said.Â
On the day Monique Zemartis decided she would throw in the towel and file a homeowner's insurance claim on her lost wedding ring, she scrolled through Facebook and stumbled across a Lincoln Police Department post about the ring.