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Norwell Couple Digs Through Tons Of Garbage To Find Lost Jewelry

NORWELL (CBS) -- Cecelia and Joe Callahan didn't think they'd be spending their 11-year wedding anniversary digging through trash.

But that's just what the Norwell couple did after Cecelia accidentally threw away her wedding ring, a pendant, and her grandmother's ring, which she plans to one day give to her daughter.

norwell jewelry lost garbage
Joe and Cecelia Callahan. (WBZ-TV)

Cecelia decided to clean the three pieces of diamond jewelry on her and her husband's anniversary, but then accidentally put them in the trash, and took that trash out.

By the time Cecelia realized what she'd done, that trash had already been collected--so they headed down to the Braintree Waste Management Station, where workers pulled out all the stops to help the couple dig through tons of garbage to find their lost jewelry.

norwell jewelry lost garbage
Trash at the Braintree facility where the Callahans searched for their jewelry. (Photo courtesy Cavanta)

Though the day of digging pushed back their anniversary dinner plans, it was a day they won't soon forget.

"Eleven years ago today we had our reception here, and we just spent the morning in 5.3 tons of garbage looking for our jewelry, and we found it," Joe says, recounting his call to reserve a dinner spot. "I was wondering if you might still have a reservation?"

The Callahans said they wouldn't have been able to find the jewelry without the help of the workers in Braintree.

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