PETERSBURG, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa man’s wedding ring missing since 1974 has been returned after turning up in an old car engine.
Dubuque resident Will Frye told station KCRG that he bought the 1972 Oldsmobile for its engine because the one in his ’69 Olds had died. He says the diamond-studded ring fell into a pile of grease under the 1972 engine as he worked on it Dec. 30.
He called the family he’d bought the old junker from, and the former owner’s daughter confirmed it was her dad’s.
Petersburg resident Ray Schmuecker says he’d bought the car to give his wife, Virgee, a smooth ride to and from her cancer chemotherapy appointments.Schmuecker says he thought he lost the ring in 1974 while helping a friend having car trouble along a roadway.
Schmuecker’s wife went out and bought a replacement the next day. She died not long afterward.
He can’t explain how the ring turned up in the engine of his old car, but he’s glad to have both rings and the memories the old car invoke.
