Last week, Zachary Ashworth was all set to pop the question to girlfriend Katherine Carver at Mississippi's 28th annual "Cruisin' the Coast" event, which is billed as "America's Largest Block Party."
Each year, tens of thousands of car enthusiasts from 40 states, plus Canada, Germany and Puerto Rico, converge on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a week to showcase their rides and to cruise the picturesque 30-mile stretch of beach-side highway, with special events taking place across 12 cities in South Mississippi.
The day was perfect, the venue was perfect, but when Ashworth reached into his pocket to pull out the three-stone diamond engagement ring, he knew something was very wrong.
“I went to feel for the ring in my pocket and I realized the ring was missing,” the Pensacola, FL, native told Biloxi TV station, WLOX. "I literally just dropped my drink on the ground, and she looks at me and goes, ‘Are you okay?’"
Ashworth wasn't OK. The last time he had successfully felt the ring in his pocket, the couple was enjoying a Trucks and Tacos event in Long Beach.
The couple retraced their steps, but finding a ring amidst the thousands of people and hundreds of cruisers was a daunting task. They gave up the search and decided to post a plea on the Cruisin' the Coast Facebook page.
He wrote, "If anyone here was at Coastal Daiquiris (bar & grill) today in Long Beach Thursday the 10 between 3-4 pm and found a 14k 3-stone diamond ring with a sizer on it, I would love to have it back. It was my engagement ring I was going to give my girlfriend today."
Meanwhile, Cruisin' the Coast attendee Sonya Becnel was dealing with challenges of her own after she noticed something shiny peeking out from under a truck tire.
“I looked down… and I saw a ring," she told WLOX. "Just sitting there right on top of the grass, gold."
“I said, ‘Look I got a problem,’” Becnel recounted. “I found a ring and I have no idea what to do with it. How will I find the person out of 10,000 people? How will I find this person?”
Becnel and her friend, Annette Cortez, decided to check out the Cruisin' the Coast Facebook page.
“Later on that night we were scrolling through Facebook… and saw Zachary’s post," Cortez said. "I was like, ‘Oh my god! We have your ring.’”
The Good Samaritans wrote to Ashworth on Facebook and arranged to meet up with the relieved couple at an Ocean Springs event the next day.
Ashworth got the ring back and thanked the Good Samaritans with a reward. A video posted to the WLOX website documented the emotional, hug-filled reunion.
“It was awesome," Becnel told the station. "We were excited. He was so excited. That was our main goal, to get this guy his ring back.”
Credits: Screen captures via WLOX.com.