Courtesy photo Lesa Buchanan Givens
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
From the hills west of Centralia to the east coast, a wedding ring lost after a 1959 small plane crash and discovered years later by a local logger has made its way onto the hand of its owner’s daughter just this week.
Q13 Fox News in Seattle reports Nick Buchanan found the piece of jewelry while hiking in 1997 and kept it safe for nearly 20 years.
Reporter Jamie Tompkins wrote that with the help of his nephew’s research, Buchanan connected with Joyce Wharton in New Jersey, who received her mother’s five-diamond ring in the mail on Wednesday.
ABC News reporter Gillian Mohney via Good Morning America wrote yesterday that Wharton’s parents Hazel and Hugh Armstrong, from San Antonio, Texas, had been on their way to see family when the plane crashed; Wharton was just 23 at the time and newly married.
New York Daily News writer Lee Moran yesterday described Wharton’s reaction: “‘It’s such a precious memento and this logger found it when he was out in the woods poking around at the base of a tree with a stick. This ring just popped out and he’s been looking for me ever since.’ ”
The tale first surfaced on Lewis County Sirens companion Facebook page last Monday when Buchanan’s daughter, Lesa Buchanan Givens, shared what she called a Christmas miracle.
“This is a wonderful ending to a story that has been part of our family for many years and I thought it was worth sharing.” Givens wrote.