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Hernando Today

Comedy writer gets his ring back

Family photo

Dave Vitty lost his ring while on vacation with his family.

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By TONY HOLT | Hernando Today

Published: November 4, 2009

PINE ISLAND - It was a wedding band. It was European.

A local jeweler confirmed it. There was no doubt.

"Yep, it's from the old country," the jeweler told Greg Miller, who uncovered it Saturday morning with his metal detector.

British radio personality "Comedy" Dave Vitty is getting his ring back.

Last month he was vacationing with his family at Pine Island. He wiped sunscreen off of his hands with a towel near a palm tree. Vitty thinks that's where he dropped it.

He didn't notice it missing until he was more than 70 miles away in Lady Lake and within hours of his flight back to London. There was no way he could return to the beach and search for it in time.

It was lost forever, or so he thought.

"It's only because he networks so well that he's getting his ring back," Miller said.

Vitty recalled eating a jumbo chili cheese dog at Willy's Tropical Breeze Café. Willy Kouchounian is the owner.

Vitty called Kouchounian, who promised him he would help him find it. He was less than optimistic.

"How often does something like this happen?" said a jovial Kouchounian, who was openly thrilled about the recent publicity. "It's just a great story, man."

He was in a giving mood Wednesday when Miller showed up to give him the ring and in exchange, collect the $200 reward. Vitty trusted Kouchounian to be his middleman for the transaction.

The café owner agreed to give Miller a free chili dog.

"I tell you, I'm so happy," Miller said. "I might as well get everything I can, you know?"

Miller learned about the lost ring Friday while surfing the Internet and perusing some message boards popular among local treasure hunters.

Kouchounian thought the ring went missing by the playground, so Miller checked there first.

"I wound up with a penny," he said.

He wandered closer to the beach to the row of palm trees. He knew he could be searching for a while, but he figured if the ring was still on the beach, it had to be nestled in the loose sand, the preferred spot for sunbathers.

Four paces from one of the biggest trees on the beach is where he found it. It wasn't buried more than a few feet deep.

"I was surprised no one saw it before me because this beach just gets pounded," he said.

Translation: Pine Island is a popular place for treasure hunters like him. He usually visits the beach a few times per week. A half-dozen more are scurrying about just as often with their metal detectors and scoops.

"I couldn't believe it, honestly," Vitty said Wednesday morning after opening an e-mail and seeing a photo of his ring.

He nearly didn't open it because it was from an address he didn't recognize. Miller got Vitty's contact information from some county employees at the front gate of the park.

"It was really odd to see my ring in a photo with this guy from Florida," Vitty said.

The discovery also made his wife happy.

"She's absolutely over the moon," Vitty said.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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