Widow, 82, is reunited with her engagement ring 30 YEARS after it was stolen thanks to metal detectorist who found it on beach and tracked her down using initials engraved inside
- George Taylor found Dorothy Nicoll’s ring four inches below sand in Carnoustie
- He then used the 1963 date and initials to find records of her wedding to Andrew
- A Facebook search found daughter Hilary and then the ring was finally returned
A widow has been reunited with her engagement ring 30 years after it was stolen, thanks to a metal detectorist who found it on a Scottish beach.
George Taylor discovered the jewellery, belonging to Dorothy Nicoll, just four inches below the surface of the sand in Carnoustie.
He then turned detective, using the 1963 date and initials engraved inside the ring to track down the 82-year-old, from Broughty Ferry.
He managed, with help from friend Liz Neish, to find records of her wedding to Andrew Nicoll that matched.
A search through Facebook led to Dorothy’s daughter Hilary and the ring – taken in a raid at the home shared with late husband Andrew in 1987 – was returned.
George Taylor discovered the jewellery, belonging to Dorothy Nicoll, just four inches below the surface of the sand in Carnoustie. Pictured: George hands over the ring to Dorothy
Dorothy said she was ‘over the moon’ to see the return of the ring, which was stolen more than three decades ago
Thieves ransacked Andrew and Dorothy’s Beach Crescent home while the couple (pictured together on their wedding day) were at the theatre one night in 1987
Dorothy gave it to a local jeweller who replaced a stone and gave it a clean and she is now delighted to have it back.
She said: ‘When Hilary told me someone had been in touch to say they had found my engagement ring I thought ‘it can’t be, impossible’.
‘I had given up on it right after it had been stolen. But as soon as I saw it I recognised it straight away because of the engravings inside.
‘The local jeweller did a great job and now I am over the moon to have it back.’
Thieves ransacked Andrew and Dorothy’s Beach Crescent home while the couple were at the theatre one night in 1987.
Dorothy, who now lives on Brook Street, said: ‘We arrived home and saw instantly the TV, record player and things like that were gone. My jewellery box as well.
‘The stone was missing out of the ring so that’s why I left it at home in the jewellery box.
‘We never heard back from the police so I assume the thieves were never caught.’
Andrew died about four years ago, making the ring’s return all the more bittersweet.
‘He would have loved to have seen it again,’ Dorothy said.
‘Andrew was a student at the time we got engaged and he got some money from a job and then said ‘let’s get married’.
‘We went to buy a ring and both agreed on that one straight away, although he said the reason he liked it was because the stone was the same colour as a pint of Export.’
Detectorist George, 60, found the ring during one of his regular jaunts to comb the sands of Carnoustie beach and uncovered it about four inches beneath the surface.
The retired fire ground technician said: ‘For me it’s about the wonderful stories you find out about by doing this.
‘I’m just happy to get the ring back to her.’
It is not the first time George has managed to reunite long-lost jewellery with its owner.
In 2015, he was able to give Alex Jones her father’s engagement ring 43 years after it was lost on the sands of St Andrews.