Mark Epple, Unemployed Man, Finds And Returns 12-Carat Diamond Ring

When she realized the 12-carat diamond ring her husband Roger had given her for their 30th wedding anniversary was missing, Janis Ward was distraught.

According to Denver's ABC 7, the couple was hustling to catch a flight out of the Eagle County airport in Colorado when the ring went missing. But Janis didn't realize it was gone until they arrived home in Miami late that night.

Eagle County spokeswoman Kris Friel told ABC:

"The following morning in the midst of a heavy snowstorm, the county's curbside staff, along with American Airline employees began searching. They walked the ramps, scoured the parking lot and baggage area and dug through plowed snow, looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack."

But the ring wasn't there to be found. Mark Epple, an unemployed architect from Minneapolis, was catching a flight with his family when he picked it up, thinking it was a piece of costume jewelry.

Epple examined the ring when he got home, and in turn contacted the airport, got in touch with the Wards, and returned the ring.

After getting the gem back, Roger said:

"I travel all over the world. This is extraordinary. It never happens."

As thanks, the Wards gave Epple and his family use of their vacation home in Eagle Valley for a holiday ski trip.

Read more about the returned stone at ABC 7.

Comments

[cdchicago]

05:09 PM on 01/11/2011

It is a sad comment on our America that returning something that is not yours and you did not earn, makes the headlines. This seems both common sense and common courtesy. To do other wise would nor should never occur to me.

That we are extolling this guys good judgment and integrity implies that keeping or selling the free diamond is the common thing to do. It is not. To do so is unthinkable and to do so in consideration of a possible reward is unthinkable.

We need to help our children by showing them the right things to do.

[allenw54]

12:46 PM on 01/11/2011

The definition of character is doing the right thing...even when no one is looking. This fine man has character. The article said that after repeated offers of a reward he finally agreed to take the offer of using their vacation home. It is nice to see an article about someone with such integrity.

[Enimal57]

08:42 PM on 01/09/2011

Mark Epple, you are an HONEST man and your family should be very proud of you.
I would offer you a position of responsibility if I had a job opening.

[fortressfountain]

07:04 PM on 01/09/2011

There are black markets you can get rid of anything. What happened to all of the art taken from China and Iraq. I heard a lot was sold at auction houses.
If I had to return the ring-I certainly would want something better than a trip with my family.

[fortressfountain]

06:36 PM on 01/09/2011

When you are unemployed you have to be home and available for work.
He should have kept the ring.

[metrowebseo]

03:44 PM on 01/09/2011

The designer of the ring, H Bredemeier, http://www.hhjewels.com is a client of mine who also purchases diamonds from people as well. He said it would be very hard for someone to pawn or sell that stone. Because of it’s size and color, it would be very easy to track. The metal and smaller diamonds could be easier to get rid of, but this should be a lesson to all of us to make sure our jewelry has a current appraisal and insurance because not everyone is as honest as the Epple's. I took off a ring at the San Franciscio airport after a long flight to wash my hands and face and wished someone had turned it in. It would have been a shame for a stone that rare to be cut down into a smaller stone which is the same thing that happened to the hope diamond which is reported to originally been in the french crown jewels. Discovery or History channel had a really interesting show about it not to long ago.

[JHKH]

06:23 PM on 01/08/2011

Use of the vacation home... The article says the man is an unemployed architect. Do you think he can afford a vacation???? Nice gesture, and maybe appropriate, but it struck me as off the mark.

[spytheweb]

06:18 PM on 01/08/2011

If this were found by a banker, it would be gone.

[MadMaddie]

09:36 PM on 01/08/2011

spytheweb: You just made hot ginger tea nearly cover my monitor... :)

[wardropper]

04:36 PM on 01/08/2011

It sort of says something about our society right now that we expect low moral standards from "unemployed people".
Just imagine the difference if people like Cheney, Rove, Bush, Rice, Bernanke, Paulson, Wolfowitz were unemployed. They'd be a positive menace to society.
Good men like Mr. Epple, brought up with a sense of belonging to a community, are out of work because the nasty minority want to create a world where only money is valued.

[Oma Ruth]

04:18 PM on 01/08/2011

I hope the ring barons will hook this guy up with a good job. The husband of the ring wearer apparently thinks highly of the wife. I hope they both think highly enough of the world that they do useful philanthrophy for worthy causes.

[kemcha]

01:18 PM on 01/08/2011

While I'm loathe to say this, I don't know of anyone who would return such a ring. Myself included. I just did a search, a ring like that is estimated $50,000 or higher, depending on the cut. I doubt I would give the ring back as I would just sell it off.

Most Americans are the same. Technically, you're not under any obligation to return it. While it's morally right to return it, ethically right, the real world just doesn't work that way.

We're living in a time where the rich are unwilling to help out the less fortunate or to share their wealth with those who might need assistance, or need a job. Whenever I find something of value, I've usually given it to my dad. I think I found this silver nickel once and without knowing the value, I simply gave it to my dad. Turned out that it was worth about $25.

Besides, I think the wealthy just frivolously spend their money. Do you know how many families could benefit from the proceeds that a 12 carot diamond ring would cost?

[topwesselton]

01:23 PM on 01/08/2011

Actually, I am really into diamonds, if that was a fancy light yellow diamond it would sell new for about 215k. The guy bought it at an estate sale so he might have paid half retail for it. However, it looks much more intense than fancy light so I think the stone would retail for 500k. So I could see him having paid 250k for it.

[wardropper]

04:05 PM on 01/08/2011

Well you both ought to be bitterly ashamed.
I have had things returned and I have returned things either to the police or to the owners if I knew how to find them. In all cases, gratitude was the overwhelming feature, and I even got small rewards sometimes - and I mean small, which I accepted only if it looked to me like the people in question could afford it.
The worst thing about your posts is that they will tend to make others think that greed and nasty opportunism are perfectly normal human qualities.
They may be widespread, but they are not "normal".
Set a decent human example, for Pete's sake.

[kemcha]

07:57 PM on 01/08/2011

I doubt you would say that if you had found it.

The one thing I know for certain is that there's no guaranteed way to determine who the ring belonged to. We happen to live in a society where the vast majority of people would claim that the ring was theirs.

Turning it over to police? How many people actually trust the police, especially with a ring that's valued over $50,000? We live in a society where not even the police are trustworthy. While I'm speculating, corrupt police officers or "dirty cops" infect police departments nationwide.

Detroit has had a problem with corrupt police officers and politicians, many of whom who are under investigation or undergoing court proceedings by the district attorney. Everyone who lives in Detroit can thank ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick for that black eye.

I've been subject to the corrupt justice system ... and corrupt officers and detectives who are paid by Michigan taxpayers, who couldn't discover the identity of a criminal who had robbed me twice after two weeks. I was able to discover the identity of the person who robbed me within 3 days and I wasn't even actively searching for him.

Unless the person's name is embroidered on the ring, anybody could claim that the ring was theirs. On average, I would imagine that there's less than 1% of the population in the United States who are honest enough to return the discovered "lost items."

Rarely, do people do the right thing.

[topwesselton]

12:09 PM on 01/08/2011

Some of you sound so bitter. The Wards have a right to spend their money as they please, such as on a 12 carat diamond. Mark Eppel did not want a cash reward, so Janis Ward offered him use of her home. I'm sure. with a 12 carat diamond, it was a very nice house. She also gave him the week between Christmas and New Year's a prime time for this area. What's to complain about? Mark sounds like a good guy, Janis wanted to give him something so she found a reward he was comfortable taking. Why all the bitterness? Is it because you don't have a 12 carat diamond or didn't get to take an almost free vacation?

[JAL2000]

03:50 AM on 01/08/2011

READ the full story before you talk about how ungrateful that couple is or what they SHOULD do....or what the finder should have done.... a lot of ASSumptions being made about everyone here.

"Epple refused Ward's initial offer of a reward, saying he knew it was right to return to the Wards what was rightfully theirs. He viewed the incident as a lesson for his three kids. His 11-year-old son, Jacob, had recently had his bike stolen at school, and knew what it felt like to lose a valued possession.

"You try to teach them the right thing. If you return something that belongs to somebody else, you shouldn’t expect to have rewards," Epple said. "I think most people would have done the same thing."

If all you can think is "if that was me I would have wanted cash" than you're not as honest a person as you think you are.

[Kaydie Nielsen]

10:32 PM on 01/07/2011

"As thanks, the Wards gave Epple and his family use of their vacation home in Eagle Valley for a holiday ski trip" WTF? He's unemployed he needs money, not a vacation stay. You have a 12 carat diamond but no common sense.

[dela21]

05:14 PM on 01/07/2011

Good story. We need more people like this guy. May God bless him and his family--and I hope he will find work soon.