(CNN) — Scattered across Florida’s hurricane-ravaged communities are piles of debris, remnants of what were once homes. Cherished memories — photo albums, family heirlooms, and tokens of love — swallowed by floodwaters and carried miles away, are now reduced to mere fragments and discarded amid the wreckage.
But in one of these piles of lost memories, a small, inconspicuous velvet black box was discovered with a ring and a note that read: “I was 18 when my parents gave it to me.”
Now, Joe Kovach, the engineer managing one of the debris sites in Tarpon Springs, Florida, where the box was found, is searching for its owner.
“Everyone has been basically dumping their entire lives onto the curb after the storm when everything flooded. My own boss’ house had 30 inches (of water) in it, and I saw his face and just how devastating it can be for everyone,” Kovach, an engineer with Pinellas County Public Works, told CNN.
“A lot of people in the community were really affected by these two storms, if there’s just a little bit I can do to give back, then that’s perfect.”
A contractor, who was gathering and condensing debris with an excavator, discovered the ring when he looked down and saw the box.
“This was a needle in a haystack for sure. For something like that to survive all that when everything else was so wet and saturated, that was kind of incredible,” Kovach said.
Although the ring was found after Hurricane Milton, Kovach is sure the treasure was initially lost amid the ruins of Hurricane Helene, based on the pile of debris it came from, which Pinellas County Public Works tracks. It is likely the owner of the ring is from Crystal Beach, Ozona, or Palm Harbor, Kovach said.
On Tuesday, after the contractor informed him about the ring, Kovach posted a photo of the box and the note on several local community Facebook pages, asking if it belonged to anyone. He did not include a photo or description of the ring to ensure it is returned to the rightful owner who can accurately describe it. On the inside lid of the box is a gold engraving with the jewelry brand, “The Danbury Mint.”
Within two days, the post received over 700 reactions, with community members sharing ideas on how Kovach might find the ring’s rightful owner.
“The comments were overwhelming at times in a good way,” Kovach said.“The whole community is intrigued and determined to find the owner.”
His small act of kindness resonated deeply in a heartbroken community striving to rebuild and find its way forward. Along with widespread death and destruction, two major hurricanes over a short period have left a vast trail of despair and frayed nerves.
Hurricane Milton claimed at least 23 lives in Florida, delivering a lethal storm surge, torrential rains and dozens of tornadoes – compounding the suffering inflicted less than two weeks earlier by another “once in a lifetime” storm, Helene, which killed another 20 people as it barreled through the state.
“This area has never seen anything back-to-back like that,” Kovach said. “Because of the amount of damage that’s along the coastal communities, we’re going to be doing this for quite some time as far as the clean up and collections (of debris) and getting back to normal.”
Semitrucks full of storm debris are still coming in, each truck dumping the ruins of people’s lives. Every pile of what looks like broken, soggy trash tells a different story of the family and home it came from.
A broken armchair, where someone might have spent most of their evenings with a book. Piles of children’s toys — Barbies and remote-controlled cars and action figures — that won’t be played with again. A fanny pack containing family photos and an arcade game card — and even a Social Security card whose owner Kovach was able to track down.
His commitment to reuniting people with their belongings following the hurricanes was inspired by someone else’s act of kindness toward him years ago when he lost his wallet at a concert and the person who found it tracked him down online.
“I was so thankful for that, so this is like me paying it forward and just looking out for people,” Kovach said. “Anytime I find things like this, I see what I can do.”
So far, Kovach has yet to receive a response from the person who lost their ring, but he hopes that eventually they will — and when they do, he says, he’d like to return their lost treasure in person.
“It would be amazing,” Kovach said. “Hopefully we can do a meet and greet just to see the excitement in their face.”
Anyone with information about the ring can send Pinellas County officials a direct message on their Facebook page.
Florida unlicensed contractor faces a bond normally reserved for murderers and violent criminals.
