[DiamondSmiles]

Jillian Eugenios, TODAY
7 hours ago

When one woman lost her keys this week, she had no idea what she would end up finding.

Alyssa Lossau, of Mission Viejo, Calofornia, spent four hours turning her house upside down on Wednesday, trying to find her lost car keys.

Lossau’s husband Andrew, frustrated and desperate with the search, picked up a watch box that had been sitting on the counter for a few days, a gift from his wife's mother that she had picked up at a garage sale. He started tearing out the cushions inside the box, and found a sparkling, three carat diamond ring.

Eric asked why she didn't use the family safe to store her ring. 'I don’t even know the numbers to the safe. It's not a place I would go put my stuff,' she said. Little did they know, the ring — worth $23,000 — belonged to Racquel Cloutier, of Laguna Niguel, Californiia, who had hidden it in the watch box before going to the hospital to give birth to her fourth child. While she was gone, her husband Eric accidentally sold it at a garage sale for $5, (after the buyer haggled him down from $10).

“They looked at the ring and thought, ‘There’s no way that ring is real,’” Cloutier told TODAY.com of the Lossaus.

Racquel Cloutier's husband accidentally sold this ring while she was in the hospital. Cloutier had thought her ring would be safe in her husband’s watch case, which he didn’t use because he preferred to just dump his watches in a drawer. “I hid the ring before I went to the hospital because my twins get into everything and my fingers were swollen,” she explained.

Once Cloutier returned from the hospital with her newborn son, she looked for the ring — but it was nowhere to be found.

"I was like, 'You sold it?'" she remembers. "I just instantly started crying."

After several tense moments and an argument, her husband suggested she would probably not see the ring again and that it was best to move on.

“I said, ‘No, I’m not moving on. I’m going to get my ring back.’”

Eric Cloutier wanted his kids to participate because he wanted them to understand the process of selling stuff and helping people, his wife said.

Cloutier wrote to a local news station and told them her story. A media frenzy quickly ensued, fueled by the curiosity over the high value of the ring.

Thanks to all the attention, it took only minutes for Alyssa Lossau to find Cloutier's email address once she realized she was the one who ended up with the lucky box.

Lossau, who lives very close to Cloutier, was able to reunite the new mom and her ring the very next day.

“I knew the chances were small,” Cloutier said of getting her ring back. “But, by the grace of God, it ended up with the most honest people.”

And the incident may have formed a new friendship: Both families are going to attend church together this Sunday.

As for those car keys? They’re still missing.

1st photo - Racquel & Eric - Courtesy Racquel Cloutier

2nd photo - The ugly ring.

3rd photo - The Cloutier Family Garage Sale - Courtesy Eric Cloutier

[Eskimo Aids]

i woulda kept it

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Eskimo Aids ↗

i woulda kept it

I would have sold the ugly thing to the first person with $20,000 to start!

If the woman proved it was hers, I would have given it to her. I've lost rings. Not worth that much, but, of sentimental value. Not a nice feeling!

I have a habit of removing rings when I wash my hands. Did so at a comedy show and by the time I got back to the Ladies Room, they were gone. Don't know who else has a pinkie in a size 4 1/4
but, I had them for years :(

I haven't worn rings since.

I was pissed because the one was my design from stones I had. I'm not a big diamond fan, unless they are a nice champagne color. I like interesting stones in pretty colors, (to me).

One person's trash is another's treasure

[ldelgadillo]

see, there are some good people there

[Oswald2001]

I woulda given it back.

Life is short.

[kellyhound]

he showed not much effort to get a wedding ring back plus the fact it was an expensive one. weird guy.

[Sharon]

And the incident may have formed a new friendship: Both families are going to attend church together this Sunday.

A wonderful happy ending!! Aw that's beautiful

[Megamel29]

"Eric Cloutier wanted his kids to participate because he wanted them to understand the process of selling stuff and helping people, his wife said."

What does that line have to do with anything? Did the kids help with the garage sale? And if so, what does that have to do with the ring? Are they trying to pin this fiasco on the kids?

And who were they helping? The dad with the sale? Were the proceeds from the sale going to charity?

Well, at least she got her ring back. That's nice.

[DiamondSmiles]

Didn't get either, Meg!

[Darkest Angel]

Happy endings !!