NATCHEZ — He doesn’t know where or how it was lost, but in retrospect Anthony Hauer saw more at play than just a lost valuable when his wife Chriss couldn’t find her one-carat diamond ring.

The ring was part of a wedding-engagement set, and so the couple made a solid search for it, to no avail.

“We took out an ad in the newspaper, we went to the radio station, but after a couple of weeks we rested, said a prayer and gave it to the Lord,” said Anthony, who is the director of the Natchez-Adams County Port.

On the off chance that it might show up, the couple took a description of the ring to the area’s pawnshops.

A couple of weeks later, Anthony received a call from Natchez Pawn Shop owner Finley Hootsell, who said he thought he’d bought the ring from a customer.

They were able to identify the ring through its serial number.

But the story Hootsell told about how the ring came to the pawnshop is what Anthony said made him feel OK about the weeks it was missing.

“He told us a lady came in and said, ‘I’ve got this ring, I don’t know what it is worth but I need some money for a prescription,’” Anthony said. “We don’t know where we lost it or even what prescription this lady needed, but I was glad she was able to get it.”

Anthony said he was happy to repay the pawnshop for the ring, was glad to have it back and was thankful the lady who needed it had the eyes to see it when she did.

“We are eternally grateful to God to have the ring back, and we hope the lady — whoever she is — is well now,” he said.