OCEAN CITY – A Pennsylvania woman is praising a local beach patrol sergeant for finding her missing engagement ring in the sand near Somerset Street last week.
Last Monday evening, Ocean City Beach Patrol Sergeant Timothy Uebel was finishing a 12-hour shift when he noticed a family combing the beach. Nancy Georges of Saltsburg, Pa., said she had returned to the area she had visited earlier in the day in search of her missing engagement ring.
“We came into town that Monday and were meeting friends on the beach …,” she said. “I had three rings on my finger and I had tucked them into my shorts to apply suntan lotion. I had forgot about them. When we were walking up to the Atlantic Hotel later, two rings dropped on the floor and I noticed the engagement ring I had had for 30 years had been lost.”
After filing a police report, Georges said she and her family retraced their steps to an area of the beach they were at earlier in the day. It was there that she ran into Uebel.
“I went back a second time to see if I could see anything and the beach patrol was starting to pull their stands away,” she said. “Tim was there, and I told him I lost my diamond ring.”
Uebel was finishing his evening patrol on the beach when he came to the family’s aid. After marking their location in the sand and retrieving a metal detector, he spent the next hour searching for the ring.
“At first, I found a bunch of aluminum foil and 23 cents, two dimes and three pennies,” he joked. “But at around 9 o’clock gold came up on the metal detector. I started scooping and found the ring.”
Uebel said the remainder of the evening was spent searching for Georges and her family, who had since left the beach. Because local law enforcement had yet to file the police report, he left his name and contact information with staff at the Atlantic Hotel, where he knew Georges was staying.
By the next morning, she was reunited with her engagement ring.
“He was out there for over an hour,” Georges said. “After working a 12-hour shift, he spent his own personal time and found my ring … He went above and beyond what anyone would do. It was divine intervention that took place. It’s amazing he even found my ring.”
Uebel – a 36-year veteran of the Ocean City Beach Patrol – said this wasn’t the first time he had found a missing item on the beach. He shared several stories of helping locals, visitors and coworkers search for missing wedding bands, engagement rings and more.
“I guess I have luck finding other people’s things,” he said.
Regardless, Uebel said finding Georges’ engagement ring was like “finding a needle in a haystack.”
Georges agreed.
“He went above the call of duty to help,” she said. “He’s one of those special people you don’t find every day. It’s people like Tim that touch lives.”
Uebel said last week’s incident demonstrates the dedication and commitment of the Ocean City Beach Patrol.
“We go above and beyond the expectation of guarding the beach and water on a daily basis,” he said. “The members of the beach patrol help the public. We just want everyone to come and enjoy the beach and we will do what whatever it takes to make that happen … If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have a job.”
