“You never know what’s out there waiting for you,” said treasure hunter Leon Jones in a recent YouTube video.
And it was never more true than on that day, July 30, when he found an Olympic gold ring in the sand using a metal detector at Huntington Beach.
The whole discovery was recorded on camera by Jones and posted on his YouTube channel, Doctor Rings & Things. In the video, he swept a metal detector in front of him and used a scoop to dig up the treasure once he got a signal. He found the Olympic ring just after locating a diamond ring on the beach.
The Olympic ring was later identified as a commemorative ring belonging to curling athlete John Landsteiner, who was part of the U.S. curling team at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. Landsteiner won the United States’ first curling gold medal in history.
As a matter of fact, every U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athlete who participated in the games can get a commemorative ring no matter whether he or she won a medal or not, according to NBC.
When Jones posted the video, he wrote that he remembered watching Landsteiner on television and was excited to return the ring to “its rightful owner.”
Two days later, Jones contacted Landsteiner, who lives in Duluth, Minnesota, during an interview with KTLA. When he learned the ring was recovered, the athlete expressed his gratitude.
“Tears were shed the night it disappeared,” Landsteiner said.
According to KTLA, Landsteiner lost the ring when he recently paid a visit to Huntington Beach while he was in California for the ESPY Awards.
In a conversation between the treasure hunter and the ring owner, Jones said he wanted to return the ring in person and shake hands with the man who brought the US a gold medal. Landsteiner said he would also bring his gold medal with him when he returned to California to pick up the ring.
