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LAKE ERIE — One woman went on a real-life treasure hunt after she lost her engagement ring in the bottom of a lake.
"Just losing that ring off my finger, I felt not complete," said bride-to-be Samantha Peckens.
In the dark and murky waters of Lake Erie in Angola, lay Peckens' one carat, princess-cut diamond engagement ring.
The ring slipped off Sunday when she was playing football in the water with her fiance Adam and friends.
"I screamed, "my ring fell off' to everybody, and everyone just instantly started looking," Peckens said. "And, you know, he's telling me calm down, you know, no one got hurt, this and that as I'm sobbing."
We were finding it. I just had a really good feeling about it.
–- Drew Supon, friend
Adam was there to console her, as he's always been. The two have been together 15 years, since Peckens was just 12.
And that's why this ring just can't be replaced.
"We went through so much together as kids, and growing up together, and it was everything to me," she said. "It never came off my finger. And when it did, especially in the water, it just broke my heart. Absolutely broke my heart."
As many as 30 people searched that first day and found nothing. Enter: Drew Supon.
"I do a little treasure hunting on my own," Supon said.
He heard about his friend's search and knew his underwater metal detector would come in handy.
"Picking up a lot of trash and bottle caps and pop tops," Supon said. "You'd be amazed how much junk is out there."
It was the end of day two now, and still no ring. The searchers started giving up, but Supon had a different feeling.
"We were finding it. I just had a really good feeling about it," Supon said.
Back in the water on day three, Supon said he just had a feeling about one spot.
"I just decided to slide my hand into the sand and raise it up, and it was so dark," Supon said. "And once it settled, the sun hit it at the right angle, and what I thought was another Pepsi pull tab was Sam's ring in my hand."
Jaws hit the bottom of the floor of Lake Erie, when he handed the ring over to Peckens' fiance.
"And Adam, my fiance, he had come up to me and said, 'did you find the ring yet?' I was like, 'no, I didn't find it yet.' And he had it in his hands like that, and I started flipping out," she said. " ‘Oh my god, oh my god.' I started crying. It was like he proposed to me again, all over again."
Once just an acquaintance, Supon might now be an honorary best man at the wedding.
"I keep on saying he's my hero," Peckens said.
"(It was under) 3, 4 feet of water, 5 inches of sand. It was basically a needle in a haystack, so I'm pretty amazed that we found it," Supon said.
Every time Peckens looks down now and sees that ring on her finger, she knows it's fate.
"If you lose it and it comes back, it's meant to be," she said. "And that's exactly how I feel about this. I just, I don't know, I feel like it's good fortune for the rest of our relationship."
