Family Recovers Heirloom Ring Toddler Flushed Down Toilet

UNION CITY, Calif. (AP) - Sanitation workers have reunited a San Francisco Bay Area family with an heirloom diamond and sapphire ring that their 3-year-old son flushed down the toilet.

After several attempts, Union Sanitary District crews found the ring last week, about a month and a half after it disappeared from Munazzar and Mehvish Tapal's Union City home. Wastewater Collection Supervisor Shawn Nesgis tells KTVU-TV the ring traveled about 1/3 of a mile.

Crews flushed the sewer lines and discovered the ring after vacuuming up debris.

Nesgis equated the discovery to finding a needle in a haystack.

The Tapals say the ring's return was a miracle. Munazzar Tapal estimates the ring has been in his family for 60 years.

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