Ring flushed down toilet found nine years later

SOMERS POINT, NJ — A New Jersey woman says it's the best Christmas gift she could imagine.

Paula Stanton was cleaning her bathroom nine years ago when her 20th anniversary diamond ring fell into the toilet and went down the drain. Two years ago, she asked the public works department if they might have found it. But no such luck.

Then, after Stanton and her husband returned from a Thanksgiving trip last month -- a big surprise.

Flushed, but not forgotten, the public works crew chief found the ring in a pipe near their home.