Plainfield Woman Loses Wedding Ring Passing Out Halloween Candy -- But Gets a Sweet Surprise

Jen and Joe Vasek celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary on Oct. 23. Submitted photos.

A Halloween fright turned into a sweet surprise for a Plainfield woman who lost something precious while passing out Halloween candy.

After a night of giving out candy by the handful to trick-or-treaters at her home in the Auburn Lakes subdivision, Jennifer Vasek realized her engagement ring was missing.

According to Vasek, her ring had become loose due to a recent weight loss, but she never thought it would fall off.

“At around 7:30, right after the kids were gone, I went to take a shower,” Vasek said. When she went to remove her jewelry, she realized the emerald-cut engagement ring was gone — and immediately knew what must have happened.

“I had no doubt that it fell off when I was putting candy in one of the kids’ bags,” she said.

The loss came a week after Vasek and her husband, Joe, celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. She said it was heartbreaking to lose something so special to her.

“It was a hard night,” she said. “I was just devastated.”

The next morning, Joe Vasek put up signs around the entrances to the couple’s subdivision in the hope that the accidental recipient of the ring would see them.

But it turned out the ring was already on its way back to Jen.

“Within 30 minutes, I got a call from this man,” said Vasek, who was shopping when she got a call from a Naperville dad who had found the ring in his daughter’s trick-or-treat bag.

“I was shocked,” Vasek said. “I mean, I was sobbing in the middle of the store.”

The Naperville family initially thought the bauble was a toy — but the man’s wife knew better.

“His wife looked at it and said, ‘This is not a toy,’” Vasek said.

Vasek said the family was on their way to her subdivision to post flyers about the found ring when they got a phone call from a relative who spotted the Vaseks’ signs.

Vasek said the man kept apologizing to her for not getting the flyers up earlier.

In her shock, Vasek said she thanked the family, but did not get their names.

“All I know about them is the phone number they called me from and that they live in Naperville,” she said, adding that the family was trick-or-treating in north Plainfield with relatives.

“We offered them a reward — they would not even hear of it,” Vasek said. “They just wanted to make sure (the ring) got back where it belonged.”

On Wednesday, Vasek posted a message about the incident on Naperville Patch’s bulletin board.

“I was in such joy and shock, I did not find out more information ... as I would like to thank them in some way,” she wrote. ”We always hear about so many negative things happening in today’s world, I really wanted to spread this positive, as I am truly blessed by this awesome selfless family.”

Vasek isn’t the only person to lose her ring while handing out candy this year.

The same thing happened to a man in Boston, and an Ohio woman reported losing a pair of gold and diamond rings that belonged to her late father. In Arizona, a woman reportedly stored her wedding ring in a candy jar, then absentmindedly dumped the contents of the jar into a candy bag while passing out treats.

“I definitely had a happy ending,” Vasek told Patch. “I’m truly blessed.”