Lost engagement ring returned by honest stranger

An Island woman is relieved and happy to have her engagement ring back on her finger after losing it during the holidays.

Her ring was returned to her as a result of social media and an honest stranger.

Elsa Pitre says she realized she had lost the ring after spending the day running errands and shopping in Summerside and Charlottetown

She has no idea how much this means to me and I will definitely be paying it forward.- Elsa Pitre

Pitre was reaching into her purse to pay for supper when she noticed her bare ring finger.

"I looked down and realized the ring was gone," she said.

Pitre had to think through every hour of that day. "I was just trying to retrace my steps. I really didn't have a clue, I had been to many so places that day."

She searched her car, hoping it had been pulled off with her glove but it wasn't there.

In addition to calling all the stores she had visited, Pitre decided to post a picture and a plea on Facebook.

Metal detector used in search

The post was shared 1,400 times but Pitre didn't stop looking.

Convinced she had lost it in one of the Summerside parking lots she had parked in earlier that day, Pitre went looking for the ring with a metal detector. Still no luck.

When Pitre started checking her messages on Facebook one jumped out. A woman told her she had the ring and left her phone number.

Pitre called and the woman said she had found it on the floor of a dressing room in one of the clothing stores in the Charlottetown Mall.

Pitre said she knew it was her ring because it was the only dressing room she had been in during her shopping trip.

"I just started to cry. I was crying and shaking, my husband was hugging me."

Pitre says she can never do enough to thank the person who found the ring.

"She has no idea how much this means to me and I will definitely be paying it forward."