Pittsburgh airport workers recover missing diamond from traveler's engagement ring

CBS News

2 days ago

Friday the 13th lived up to its reputation for one woman passing through Pittsburgh International Airport. She lost the diamond from her engagement ring, but she wasn't unlucky for long.
After a stressful 17 days of work around downtown Los Angeles, April Schmitt was making the flight on June 12 to come back home to Pittsburgh.
Schmitt had to deal with a series of flight delays, missed connections and an overnight stay in an airport hotel, but she finally made it back to Pittsburgh on Friday, June 13.
Woman loses diamond in baggage carousel
However, that was just the start of some bad luck. While standing at carousel B, Schmitt reached for her suitcase, but her hand got stuck.
"As I went to retrieve my bag from the carousel, my hand got stuck between the suitcase and the edge of the carousel. It pinched my hand, so I pulled my hand back really quickly," she said.
In a state of shock, she walked away with her suitcase, but about 30 minutes later, when she was almost home, her ring finger felt different.
"I looked down and my ring was without a diamond," she said.
There were four empty prongs where the center diamond of her engagement ring should be.
"It was devastating. I mean, I literally felt sick to my stomach as soon as I realized," she said.
She drove back to the airport and began looking.
"I came in and I immediately started looking all around here, on the floor," Schmitt said.
Airport workers join the search
Shortly after, four airport authority employees from the maintenance department joined in the search.
Stationary engineer Tom Riordan said the baggage carousel is "a labyrinth of steel."
Pittsburgh International Airport workers spent hours trying to find a diamond that had come loose from a woman's engagement ring.
(Photo: KDKA)
They all spent 90 minutes searching and crawling everywhere, even on the baggage carousel. They even pulled up some panels to look inside.
"Yeah, typical day," said electrician Steve Turkaly with a laugh.
Despite their best efforts, Schmitt left for home again, still heartbroken.
Multiple flights arrived that day, and there were lots of suitcases for those passengers, but the airport employees didn't give up. Four hours later, Schmitt got the call, telling her they found the one-and-a-quarter carat diamond.
"Two paint sticks taped together, scraping dirt from underneath the carousel, that's how they actually found it," Riordan said.
"Literally, my jaw dropped. I was ecstatic. I just couldn't get to the airport quickly enough," said Schmitt.
"It really felt good, I mean to see the expression on her face n'at, it made it all worth it," Turkaly said.
"It restored my faith in humanity."
It's a diamond with 34 years of meaning to Schmitt. Her husband proposed to her with it on Friday, March 13, and they got married on Friday, Nov. 13, 1992. Now, after Friday, June 13, 2025, she's counting the unluckiest day as her luckiest of all.
"It restored my faith in humanity, honestly," she said.
"These men didn't know me at all. They knew nothing about how long I've been married. They knew nothing about my husband or the stone or the sentimental value or the economic value, but that didn't matter; they were just committed to doing the right thing," she added.
If you also lose something at Pittsburgh International Airport, call customer service, which catalogs what's lost and found, at 412-472-3525.