- A woman in Connecticut accidentally donated her wedding and engagement ring to Goodwill.
- She told local outlet ABC7 she left the rings in the pocket of a hoodie she later took to Goodwill.
A recent donation to Goodwill turned into a cautionary tale.
According to local media outlet ABC7, a Connecticut-based woman unintentionally donated her wedding band and engagement ring.
The outlet reported on Monday that she put the rings in the pocket of a hoodie for safekeeping while she was cleaning — but then forget they were there.
She donated the jacket to Goodwill without realizing the rings were still in the pocket, unsure where they were for weeks until she remembered, as she told the outlet. She added that she hopes to be reunited with the rings, but the odds of finding it aren't high.
Goodwill says it can't help her with her search. The store told ABC7 it doesn't check the pockets of clothes that are donated, nor does it have a formal inventory system to keep track of items. Goodwill did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
"I can't replace the sentimental value," the unnamed woman told ABC7 of the rings. "I also can't replace the physical piece because they don't make it anymore, and there is nothing I have seen that is similar."
However, people have been able to track down items accidentally donated to Goodwill before. In August, Arkansas bride Bailey Dobson's wedding dress was unintentionally donated to Goodwill during a garage sale just months before her nuptials, and she was able to find it using a social-media campaign.
Some lost engagement rings have been found in unusual places, too.
In May, a group of city sanitation workers doing routine maintenance found an engagement ring that had been accidentally flushed down a toilet over a year ago in Chino Hills, California.
And in July, a teenager came to the rescue during a proposal at Myrtle Beach, California, after a man dropped the ring in the sand mere minutes before he popped the question.
The Connecticut woman's experience also comes at a time when engaged couples are heading to Goodwill as they plan their weddings, particularly for dresses.
Brides like Lily Swindell are turning to Goodwill to find vintage dresses they can put their personal stamp on, and some shoppers like Emmali Osterhoudt have even stumbled upon designer dresses at Goodwill for a fraction of their retail price.