N.H. Man Finds Wife's Lost Wedding Rings in 20 Tons of Trash — Thanks to a Celery Stalk

A stalk of celery helped a New Hampshire man find the wedding rings he accidentally threw away last week among 20 tons of trash.

Kevin Butler, of Windham, lost the rings on Wednesday after tossing out a napkin that they'd been placed in after they were cleaned, according to ABC affiliate WMUR-TV and The Associated Press.

Butler was unaware that his wife had put her rings in the napkin to dry, and only realized they were missing after he took their trash to a local transfer station, WMUR-TV reported.

So, he returned to the site and asked for help.

"He said, 'I'm pretty sure I threw the rings out,'" transfer station supervisor Dennis Senibaldi said Tuesday, per the report.

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Sure enough, Butler had done just that — but he was able to recover them with the workers' assistance and a lot of luck.

Senibaldi and his coworkers used surveillance footage of Butler's trip to the transfer station to determine the best spot to dig through the 20 tons of trash, per the reports.

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Crews then used an excavator to comb through the garbage, according to the AP. After a few scoops, Butler spotted a clue that helped crack the case.

"One of the things he said was [inside] was celery stalks, and I could see a celery stalk sticking out the side of the bag," Senibaldi said, per the outlet.

The bag was pulled from the pile, and the hopeful search for the rings continued.

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"As we were going through the bag that we knew was his, he actually said, 'It's not in here.' And I said, 'No, there's a couple little pieces left,'" Senibaldi said. "I had my rubber gloves on, I moved a few items out of the way and saw literally the very last napkin and I opened it up."

Though he "wouldn't recommend anyone else do it," Butler said he would go to the same lengths to find the rings "a thousand times over," according to WMUR-TV.

Butler reportedly treated the staff to pizza over the weekend as thanks for their help.