Losing a piece of sentimental jewelry is a uniquely frustrating experience. For Stephen Meyer, that frustration lasted a decade. In 2016, Meyer was playing in the water with his son at his family’s Lake Belle Taine cabin in Minnesota when his wedding ring slipped off his finger.
Despite exhaustive searches, the ring completely vanished. Meyer’s mother-in-law, Malana Johansen, told the Pioneer Press that the family tried everything they could think of to recover the band. They dredged the sand, dragged large magnets through the water, and swam through the area every summer. The ring remained lost, prompting Meyer to eventually purchase a replacement band.
Ten years later, on July 20, 2026, Meyer’s nine-year-old niece, Harper Johansen, visited the grandparents’ cabin for the first time since she was a toddler. Harper was not even born when the ring originally disappeared, yet she was the one who finally cracked the case.
Drought conditions did what years of searching couldn’t
Recently, a severe drought caused the water levels at Lake Belle Taine to recede drastically.
“The lake has gone down probably about 30 feet since last fall,” Malana explained to the outlet.
This extreme drop in water volume left the long-lost ring glimmering in the shallows near the shore. Harper noticed the shine while walking near the edge of the lake.
“She just picked it up and said, ‘There’s a ring!’… It was still in the water, but she didn’t really have to go in the lake to reach it. It was just there,” Malana said.
Ergo Zakki via Unsplash.
After a quick cleaning, the original ring still fit Meyer perfectly. He now wears both of his wedding bands simultaneously.
Unexpected closure
The discovery provided a much-needed moment of joy for Harper. Her family went through a significant tragedy the previous year after losing their home to the Southern California wildfires. Finding the ring brought a bright spot to their summer vacation.
Malana noted that the miraculous recovery of the ring is “going to be family lore from now on.” She also joked that Mother Nature might finally grant the region some relief.
“Maybe now it will start raining again, now that we finally found the ring,” she said.
