Happy Ending: $23K Wedding Ring Returned After Husband Accidently Sold It at Garage Sale for $10

One of the saddest husbands in the world this month, who accidentally sold his wife's $23,000 wedding ring for $10 at a garage sale, is smiling once again.

Eric and Racquel Cloutier, before the "ring incident" (Credit: Facebook)

A couple in possession of what Eric Cloutier believed was nothing more than an empty box found the ring inside and yesterday returned it to him and his wife, Racquel, after hearing about the AWOL diamond ring in news reports, the Daily Mail reports.

(Credit: GMA)

"You just can't ask for a better ending to a story," Racquel Cloutier, 31, told Good Morning America. "I don't think I'll be taking it off anytime soon."

(Credit: GMA)

The howling "oops" moment occurred on an already-intense day, June 1, when Eric hurried home from the hospital where Racquel had just given birth to the couple's fifth child.

(Credit: GMA)

Why the rush home? To participate in their Laguna Niguel, Calif., neighborhood's annual garage sale.

Hubby did what many of his tribe are wont to do in such moments; he quickly went through the house in search of items his family could contribute.

Among his finds was a watch box, tucked away in the couple's closet

A box he thought was empty.

"I saw the box and said, 'Oh, this could be something nice. We don't use that,'" Eric recalled.

As you no doubt know by now, Racquel used the box to hide her $23,000 diamond wedding ring from the clutches of her two-year-old twins while she was in the hospital giving birth.

"Whenever you're pregnant, your fingers start to swell," she said, "so I thought it'd be a good idea to take it off."

Now at the garage sale, the box was eventually scooped up for $10.

Turns out the buyer gave the box to her daughter and son-in-law, Andrew and Alyssa Lossau. To say they were shocked to find the ring inside the box is an understatement.

(Credit: GMA)

But when Racquel's stint in the maternity ward was over four days later, she looked for box...and got the very bad news from Eric.

"He's like, 'I sold it,' [and] I'm like, 'You sold it? You sold it? You sold the box?,'" Racquel said. "And he's like, 'Yeah, why?,' and I'm like, 'My wedding ring was inside the box.'"

(Credit: GMA)

But after the couple shared their story with the media and the Lossaus happened to get wind of one of the reports, they emailed the Cloutiers.

A dozen days later, the couples met...and Racquel got her wedding ring back.

(Credit: GMA)

The Cloutiers told the Lossaus they would make a donation to the charity of their choice for the kindness and honesty they displayed.

Here's a clip of the original report, before the ring was found, via ABC News:

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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