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American Morning

Interview with Diane Kurtz, Bill Zuerblis

Aired January 02, 2003 - 09:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Diane Kurtz calls it a miracle. She was married 17 years ago, and just last month, a couple days before Christmas, she was reunited with her long-lost love. We are not talking about her husband, he is still around. We're talking about her diamond wedding ring that she lost way back in 1987.
A worker at a Hartford sewage treatment plant, Bill Zuerblis, found it at the bottom of a waste water drainage pool. Bill is joining us now from Hartford, along with Diane Kurtz, who is wearing the ring.

Good morning to both of you.

DIANE KURTZ, WEDDING RING OWNER: Good morning.

BILL ZUERBLIS, WATER SANITATION EMPLOYEE: Good morning.

KAGAN: Diane, first take us back 15 years ago when you lost that ring. How do you think you lost it?

KURTZ: Oh, well, I was painting that day. I was painting a room and I just got paint all over my hands. So I took the rings off and I, you know, cleaned them all up, and I just remember patting them dry with a paper towel.

And the only thing I remember now is driving up to Glosson (ph) that day to visit my friend and we were having lunch, and I looked at my hands and I went, Oh, my God, my rings are gone.

So I came back and I thought I had just thrown them out in the garbage. And we just looked and looked and kept the garbage for about two weeks because I didn't want to throw it out, and we never found it. My husband did check the pipes in the kitchen sink, and nothing was there so I just assumed somehow they got thrown out in the garbage, or -- in the back of my mind I thought maybe they were somewhere in the house. But -- I really didn't know what had happened to them.

KAGAN: Just long gone. OK. We are going to fast forward 15 years later, and Bill, you take it from there. How did you find the ring?

ZUERBLIS: Well, actually, we had some emergency operations as what you've been calling a drainage pool. One of our pipes got clogged up and we had to do emergency procedures, go in there. Clean the drain out. KAGAN: And I guess there's all sorts of stuff that you find down there, and that is where you found the ring. The incredible part, I find in this story, not just finding it but the incredible effort, Bill, you went to to find the owner. It is one thing to find a diamond ring. How did you figure out who it belonged to?

ZUERBLIS: Well, actually, when I found it, when you're down there, you're just thinking it is just costume jewelry and stuff, and then you take the stuff back to the locker room, you clean it up a little bit. And I actually saw the inscription of POMG with a few initials. And so -- I figured it was somebody's diamond ring. I took it to a jeweler. He cleaned it up, I finally got the date that was on there, and both Diane's and her husband's initials. And, just started doing a little research.

KAGAN: A little research. It wasn't that easy to figure out the exact names, and even once you got to the name Kurtz, I understand it is a kind of common name in the area that you are talking about. So you still had to even keep going. Eventually found Diane and her husband. And Diane, tell me about what what it was like to get that phone call.

KURTZ: Well, it was a message, and it was a little strange because he had used my entire maiden name, middle name. So, I was thinking, what could this be? And I thought I had lost my keys, so I thought they had found my keys. So I called back a little hesitant, but he said, did you lose something? I said, Oh, you found my keys. He said no.

So he said, did you lose anything else? And I said -- and I thought for a minute, and, I don't know why -- my heart kind of stopped and I went, oh, did you find my wedding rings. He said, Well, what did they say on them? I said, I don't remember because I lost them 15 years ago. I said the date, and our initials and we realized that it definitely was my ring. So it was just amazing. I was just so excited.

KAGAN: Just incredible. Well, let's see it. Do you have the ring? There it is.

KURTZ: There it is. Right there. It's two, actually, soldered together. It was my engagement ring and the wedding band together.

KAGAN: Oh, that is just so special. Is there any reward involved in this, Diane?

KURTZ: Well, we brought some flowers over for his wife, Cindy, because she was really sweet, really nice lady. And we gave them a certificate to dinner, so hopefully they will be able to use that. But, you know, we just said we appreciate it so much, and it was just really nice. He's just been a great guy, and I feel like I've known him for years.

KAGAN: That's really, really does sound like someone very special. Again, not just to find the ring, but all the effort. And I guess, Bill, the only question is, have you seen Diane's keys? ZUERBLIS: No.

KURTZ: My husband found them the next day, so it was kind of nice.

KAGAN: OK. So we can wrap up the story on all different ends.

KURTZ: Right.

KAGAN: Well, it was a really good feel good story, and we wanted to have a chance to talk with you and see the ring and find your ring hero as well. So to Diane and Bill, thanks for joining us this morning and congratulations once again on the hard work and getting the ring back.

KURTZ: Thank you.

ZUERBLIS: Thanks.

KAGAN: Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 2, 2003 - 09:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Diane Kurtz calls it a miracle. She was married 17 years ago, and just last month, a couple days before Christmas, she was reunited with her long-lost love. We are not talking about her husband, he is still around. We're talking about her diamond wedding ring that she lost way back in 1987.
A worker at a Hartford sewage treatment plant, Bill Zuerblis, found it at the bottom of a waste water drainage pool. Bill is joining us now from Hartford, along with Diane Kurtz, who is wearing the ring.

Good morning to both of you.

DIANE KURTZ, WEDDING RING OWNER: Good morning.

BILL ZUERBLIS, WATER SANITATION EMPLOYEE: Good morning.

KAGAN: Diane, first take us back 15 years ago when you lost that ring. How do you think you lost it?

KURTZ: Oh, well, I was painting that day. I was painting a room and I just got paint all over my hands. So I took the rings off and I, you know, cleaned them all up, and I just remember patting them dry with a paper towel.

And the only thing I remember now is driving up to Glosson (ph) that day to visit my friend and we were having lunch, and I looked at my hands and I went, Oh, my God, my rings are gone.

So I came back and I thought I had just thrown them out in the garbage. And we just looked and looked and kept the garbage for about two weeks because I didn't want to throw it out, and we never found it. My husband did check the pipes in the kitchen sink, and nothing was there so I just assumed somehow they got thrown out in the garbage, or -- in the back of my mind I thought maybe they were somewhere in the house. But -- I really didn't know what had happened to them.

KAGAN: Just long gone. OK. We are going to fast forward 15 years later, and Bill, you take it from there. How did you find the ring?

ZUERBLIS: Well, actually, we had some emergency operations as what you've been calling a drainage pool. One of our pipes got clogged up and we had to do emergency procedures, go in there. Clean the drain out. KAGAN: And I guess there's all sorts of stuff that you find down there, and that is where you found the ring. The incredible part, I find in this story, not just finding it but the incredible effort, Bill, you went to to find the owner. It is one thing to find a diamond ring. How did you figure out who it belonged to?

ZUERBLIS: Well, actually, when I found it, when you're down there, you're just thinking it is just costume jewelry and stuff, and then you take the stuff back to the locker room, you clean it up a little bit. And I actually saw the inscription of POMG with a few initials. And so -- I figured it was somebody's diamond ring. I took it to a jeweler. He cleaned it up, I finally got the date that was on there, and both Diane's and her husband's initials. And, just started doing a little research.

KAGAN: A little research. It wasn't that easy to figure out the exact names, and even once you got to the name Kurtz, I understand it is a kind of common name in the area that you are talking about. So you still had to even keep going. Eventually found Diane and her husband. And Diane, tell me about what what it was like to get that phone call.

KURTZ: Well, it was a message, and it was a little strange because he had used my entire maiden name, middle name. So, I was thinking, what could this be? And I thought I had lost my keys, so I thought they had found my keys. So I called back a little hesitant, but he said, did you lose something? I said, Oh, you found my keys. He said no.

So he said, did you lose anything else? And I said -- and I thought for a minute, and, I don't know why -- my heart kind of stopped and I went, oh, did you find my wedding rings. He said, Well, what did they say on them? I said, I don't remember because I lost them 15 years ago. I said the date, and our initials and we realized that it definitely was my ring. So it was just amazing. I was just so excited.

KAGAN: Just incredible. Well, let's see it. Do you have the ring? There it is.

KURTZ: There it is. Right there. It's two, actually, soldered together. It was my engagement ring and the wedding band together.

KAGAN: Oh, that is just so special. Is there any reward involved in this, Diane?

KURTZ: Well, we brought some flowers over for his wife, Cindy, because she was really sweet, really nice lady. And we gave them a certificate to dinner, so hopefully they will be able to use that. But, you know, we just said we appreciate it so much, and it was just really nice. He's just been a great guy, and I feel like I've known him for years.

KAGAN: That's really, really does sound like someone very special. Again, not just to find the ring, but all the effort. And I guess, Bill, the only question is, have you seen Diane's keys? ZUERBLIS: No.

KURTZ: My husband found them the next day, so it was kind of nice.

KAGAN: OK. So we can wrap up the story on all different ends.

KURTZ: Right.

KAGAN: Well, it was a really good feel good story, and we wanted to have a chance to talk with you and see the ring and find your ring hero as well. So to Diane and Bill, thanks for joining us this morning and congratulations once again on the hard work and getting the ring back.

KURTZ: Thank you.

ZUERBLIS: Thanks.

KAGAN: Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com