ST. CLOUD -- An 8-year-old Hutchinson boy is credited with re-uniting a St. Cloud man with his lost wedding ring. And, while the location of where Matthew Ortloff found the ring is unlikely, it's how his family tracked down the owner that is a tale of persistence, creativity, and good luck.

Matthew Ortloff - photo courtesy of Jennifer Ortloff
Matthew Ortloff - photo courtesy of Jennifer Ortloff
loading...

Matt Dooyema lost the ring August 22nd while tubing down the Platte River near Royalton. He didn't notice it missing until he was well on his tubing trip.  He thought the ring must have come off his finger while getting dunked and was lost forever.

I just had assumed I had lost it somewhere a little further downstream.  I didn't think I had lost it right away.  So, in my mind it was sitting six or seven feet underneath the water and covered in silt and I'm never gonna find it.

But two weeks later on September 3rd, Ortloff and his family were preparing for their own tubing trip.  The adults were tying their tubes together at the river's entrance when Matthew spotted what he thought was a gold stone. It wasn't a stone, but rather a man's wedding band. Matthew's mother Jennifer Ortloff says he immediately started insisting that they track down the owner.  She says he was passionate about reuniting the ring with its rightful owner.

It had a special spot on our window sill and he would often ask if anyone has asked about the ring.  He was telling everybody possible the story...hoping that someone would have an idea as to finding the owner.  He had good follow-up skills.

The Ortloff's noticed an engraving with initials and a wedding date on the inside of the ring. They tried placing a lost and found add on Craigslist and sought out other ways to track down the owner.

Lee Voss, WJON
Lee Voss, WJON
loading...

In the end, the Ortloff's learned of the state of Minnesota marriage registry website www.moms.mn.gov and were able to match the initials and wedding date with Matthew and his wife Emily.

Jennifer then used Facebook's messenger "app" to reach out to Dooyema. The two met earlier this week and Dooyema now has his ring back thanks to a young boy with a big heart and a keen eye.

Dooyema rewarded Matthew with some giftcards and credits him for being a great kid who has restored his own faith in future generations.

More From AM 1240 WJON