Schoolgirl, 11, who found lost wedding ring while swimming in sea in Devon tracks down owner after posting appeal on Facebook

• Imogen Tite, 11, was swimming at Woolacombe Beach in North Devon this month
• She dived under the water and found an engraved gold wedding band
• The ring is back with its owner James Mizrahi who lost it while bodyboarding

A schoolgirl has reunited a husband with his wedding ring just 48 hours after he lost it while bodyboarding in Devon.  

Imogen Tite, 11, was swimming at Woolacombe Beach in North Devon during a family camping holiday when she dived under a wave, ran her hands along the sand and found the ring.

Just days before, James Mizrahi and his wife Rebecca, who live in Loughborough, East Mids., shared a post on social media on August 15 asking if anyone had found a ring on the beach.  

After finding the jewellery, Imogen, who was on holiday with her mother Emily and brothers Charlie, 14, and Elliot, six, immediately assumed the ring belonged to her father Andy, but he had taken his own ring off before getting into the water.

After examining the wedding band they realised it was engraved with the message ‘James and Rebecca 25.10.03’ on the inside. 

Imogen Tite, 11, was swimming at Woolacombe Beach in North Devon during a family camping holiday when she dived under a wave and found the ring (pictured)

Imogen (pictured) found the ring while swimming during a camping holiday with her family

Just days before, James Mizrahi and his wife Rebecca, who live in Loughborough, East Mids., shared a post on social media asking if anyone had found a ring on the beach

Mr Tite, a 40-year-old paramedic, said: ‘That day, Imogen and her brothers were playing in the waves and Imogen was running her fingers through the sand on the sea bed.

‘She popped up with a ring on her finger, which she thought was mine at first.

‘I instinctively looked down to check my wedding finger, but I take mine off in the sea as the cold water can make your fingers shrink.’

He said they decided to search online for the owners after spotting the engraving.  

Imogen, who starts high school next month, said: ‘I thought the ring was my dad’s as he was near to me. I was amazed when I realised someone must have lost it.’

Armed only with the engraving ‘James and Rebecca, 25.10.03’, the family created a public post in a bid to track down the owner.

Andy’s post was shared thousands of times before someone read it who had coincidentally also seen a recent post searching for a lost wedding ring.

Imogen was on holiday with her mother Emily and brothers Charlie, 14, and Elliot, six (pictured)

He said: ‘We had so many strangers get in touch and try and help us find the owners, because we had their names and wedding date to search, people were looking at wedding registers from that date and trying to track down the couple.

‘It was lovely to see an online community make such an effort to help Imogen and I find the owners.’

Just a couple of days earlier Mr Mizrahi and his wife Rebecca had shared a post hoping someone may have found his ring.

Andy posted online in an effort to find the owner of the lost ring. He wrote that it was a 9ct white gold band

Armed only with the engraving ‘James and Rebecca, 25.10.03’, the family created a public post in a bid to track down the owner. Pictured, Andy with Imogen

The ring was lost underneath the waves of the sea at Woolacombe Beach (pictured)

Andy said: ‘James had lost his ring two days before. He was bodyboarding when it fell off and you would think if you lose something in the sea, it would be lost forever but this was lost and found within 48 hours which is just amazing – that’s the power of social media.

‘A lady on Facebook happened to see both my found status and Rebecca’s lost post in a local Devon based group and matched us together.’

Andy then contacted Mrs Mizrahi via her Facebook profile. He also found her husband on LinkedIn and contacted his workplace, with Andy receiving a call back from a very relieved Mr Mizrahi within three hours.

Imogen and her brothers (pictured) spent five hours swimming in the sea on the day the ring was found

Andy added: ‘James and Rebecca were so shocked when I contacted them. They really were amazed that Imogen found it – and couldn’t believe it was hidden under the sea.

‘They sent Imogen a lovely email, they were very grateful it was found as they are still happily married.

‘Imogen is our water baby, born in water and loves nothing more than taking part in water sports and swimming.

‘That day she must have spent five hours or more in the sea and she was so excited to have found something that meant a lot to someone.’ 

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