Standing in the centre of many loads of litter, Bernie and Carla Squitieri and the guys helping them were all exceptionally dubious.
The garbage truck had pulled from their Clarkson Valley dwelling hours before, halting at countless houses after that, compacting a growing number of garbage at the top of theirs as it continued on the junk path.
It was a little before midday at home Monday when Carla Squitieri began to panic.
She couldnt find her rings.
I was like a lunatic, rending the house upwards, Carla Squitieri said.
Bernie Squitieri froze when they recognized the past spot she'd the rings was on a paper towel in the kitchen, where the jewelry was drying off after she washed dishes. She got disturbed. After that night, he pitched the paper towel in the garbage while cleaning up the kitchen.
We both ran out to the junk, simply to comprehend (the garbage truck) had come and gone, Bernie Squitieri said.
As Carla Squitieri hollered, distraught over the loss of rings that she'd intended to pass down to her daughter, Bernie Squitieri got on the telephone.
All told, the rings are valued at close to $500,000.
Thats how a couple ended up in a garbage transfer station in OFallon, Mo., wearing white haz mat suits (feeling like characters from Ghostbusters) and digging through an estimated eight or nine tons of litter. Hopelessness permeated the arena more compared to the stink of yesterdays garbage.
It was an achievement only getting there, though.
When customers call Meridian Waste Services about losing an thing in the garbage, the trucks typically have already dropped it in a landfill to be bulldozed and buried. Nine times out of 10, the thing is not located, said Joe Evans, operations supervisor for Meridian.
Bernie Squitieris first call was to Meridian.
Bernie Squitieri understands the mayor of Clarkson Valley, so he got him about the telephone.
He explained, Im not calling to demand anything. I thought, well, where theres a will, there could be a manner. Well get after it, see if we could locate it.
Evans heard concerning the lost rings worth of a half-million dollars, and chose to head around with three men to assist the couple seem.
Tearing into another about 20 minutes to the search, Evans comprehended the Squitieris address on a part of post in. He took it to some clear space and dropped it.
And there, in midst of another rubbish, he saw the sparkle of a diamond partially concealed from the paper towel wrapped around it.
All it comes down to is fortune, Evans said.
There were more tears, lots of hugging and then, a $500 benefit for Evans.
Jessica Bock 314 340 8228
@jessicabock on Twitter
jbock@post-dispatch.com
