Woman's wedding ring recovered from Lake Michigan by stranger

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3/WKRC) - A West Michigan man helped a woman reunite with her wedding ring after she lost it in Lake Michigan.

Jamie Kennedy lost her ring while at the beach with her friend says she thought she would never see it again-- until a man she now calls a "miracle from God" recovered it for her.

Kennedy thought all hope was lost after her wedding ring slipped off her finger and vanished under the water.

"I got some sand underneath my ring, so I pushed my ring up with my thumb to get it off and it fell off right into the water," she said.

The Paw Paw mother frantically began searching the sand, but her ring was nowhere to be found.

"Like, my heart stopped; I really think it skipped a beat, and I instantly felt sick," Kennedy said.

As a last ditch effort, and without much hope, she reached out for help on social media, and just waited in anguish.

"I made a Facebook post, and I just said, at this point in time I don't usually believe in miracles, but I lost my wedding ring and I'm sad, sick, disappointed in myself for allowing it to happen, and if anyone sees any posts about found rings in South Haven let me know," she said.

That's when she got a message from John Dudley, who is no rookie at finding lost jewels.

"I am an optimist and I never thought we wouldn't find it; I knew that if nobody else had found it we're going to do it," Dudley said.

Armed with his high-tech metal detector and earphones, he sifted through the sand and went into the water.

"I thought it had to be something good, and when I brought the metal scoop out of the water and the sand sifted through it, and there was a silver ring, I was like 'oh it's gotta be hers', and then when I turned it over and looked at it I was like, 'yes'. And so I gave a thumbs up to the guys on the beach, and I gave a thumbs up to Jamie, and she practically walked on water to meet me out there. It was so cool," Dudley said.

Jamie still can't believe her 1.3 carat ring is back in its rightful place-- on her finger, where it had been sitting for the past three years.

Dudley, who found the ring, said he is part of a metal detector club in South Havenand says he doesn't want any reward for what he has done. He says he is just glad he was able to help.