She lost her diamond. A crew of strangers began looking on hands and knees.
She got engaged on Friday, March 13, 1992, and married on another Friday the 13th that November. For more than three decades, those dates marked happy milestones.
But on Friday, June 13, Schmitt found herself wondering if her luck had run out.
After a stressful week managing a work event in Los Angeles, Schmitt landed in Pittsburgh. Her trip home had already hit a couple of snags — a delayed flight, an unanticipated overnight stay in Philadelphia — and she was eager to be back with her family.
About 30 minutes into her 40-minute drive home, Schmitt noticed something strange.
'I touched my ring, and it felt sharp,' Schmitt said. 'I look down, and there were just four empty prongs staring at me. I instantly felt sick to my stomach. My heart sank.'
She turned her car around and rushed back to Pittsburgh International Airport. On the way, she retraced her steps and realized her round diamond — the one her husband of 32 years proposed to her with — likely came loose at baggage claim.
'I think the bag sort of shifted, and I pinched my hand between the suitcase and the carousel,' Schmitt said. 'I jerked my hand back and didn't actually think anything of it.'
When she got back to the airport, she started frantically looking around American Airlines Baggage Claim B. She reported the lost diamond to an airline staffer, who then alerted airport staff.
A group of 6 airline service technicians promptly arrived at the carousel to search for the diamond.
'I found the woman on her hands and knees with the flashlight on her phone looking,' said Tom Riordan, a stationary engineer who has worked at the airport for 20 years.
While some airport workers climbed underneath the carousel to look inside, others searched the exterior. Some travelers joined the effort, too.
'Several good Samaritans were trying to crawl around and look as well,' Schmitt said. 'These are just good, wholesome people. … They could see how much it meant to me.'
After an hour and a half of looking, Schmitt was beginning to lose hope. Although the diamond was insured, Schmitt said, no replacement stone would have had the same sentimental value.
'I just felt so deflated,' Schmitt said.
The workers told her there would be a lull in incoming flights shortly, and staff on the next shift would continue looking for her diamond.
'I must confess, I didn't really 100 percent believe that they were going to,' said Schmitt, who decided to cut her losses and drive home.
But, to Schmitt's surprise, the airport staff kept their word. A few hours later, around 3:45 p.m., Schmitt got a call. The diamond had been found.
'I was like, 'Wait, what?!'' said Schmitt, who drove back to the airport. 'I was just so excited.'
Sean Dempsey, a stationary engineer at the airport, found the diamond inside the debris-filled carousel — in the exact spot Schmitt believed it popped out of the prongs. The service technicians explained that there is a trapdoor at the top of the carousel, giving them access to climb underneath.
'I just was crawling with a flashlight, and we had paint sticks to scrape all the dirt away,' he said. 'The diamond caught a little bit of light, and I found it.'
Airport staff said supporting travelers is their primary job.
'This is one of several incidents that we've recently had, including golf clubs that needed to get returned to somebody at the U.S. Open,' said Christina Cassotis, chief executive of Pittsburgh International Airport. 'It's not the first time we've found a diamond. This is what we do.'
'She was so grateful, with tears in her eyes that the diamond was found,' Riordan said of Schmitt. 'It was so nice to be able to get it back to her.'
Schmitt said she offered to bring the staff food, make a donation or give them gifts to show her appreciation. They declined.
'They were like, 'Seeing your smile is all the reward we need,'' said Schmitt, who returned to the airport on June 26 to give each person who assisted a small gift and a thank-you card.
Schmitt said she still feels stunned she got her diamond back, and that so many strangers were willing, for hours, to help.
'It so restored my faith in humanity,' she said.
Schmitt took the ring to be repaired at the same jeweler where her husband designed it years ago. The diamond, Schmitt said, has even more meaning now.
'It's very special,' she said.
And as it turns out, Friday the 13th kept its lucky streak for Schmitt.
'It was just such a gift to me to be reminded of how good people can be,' she said.
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