On August 17, Martina Milan, a dental assistant at Maplewood Dental Arts and resident of Gorham, was struggling in her driveway with groceries and children. Her engagement ring got caught, so she removed it and put it on the hood of her car as she hustled the little ones into the house.

Later that afternoon, she drove off to do more errands, not realizing until she returned that her ring was missing and where she had last seen it. Milan backtracked and searched everywhere for her ring.

After two days, she confessed to her fiancé, Stephen Horgan, a realtor at Pro Edge Realty, how she had lost his gift. Horgan jumped into action and for days searched lawns and roadways all around town. He posted the loss on the Gorham Facebook page where there was an outpouring of sympathy and offers of assistance in their search.

As time ticked on, he knew the odds of finding it were slipping when he saw the Town was mowing the roadside lawn along Milan’s traveled path. They were also doing paving work on another stretch.

After a couple of weeks, they both agreed that the ring was lost, and they started planning how to save for a new one. To lighten their spirits, they planned a kid-free weekend vacation in New Hampshire for August 27.

On the 29th, Gorham resident Geoff Allen, member of the Gorham Volunteers in Police Service and a Territory Manager for AT&T, was assigned a shift at the rotary near Moody’s Collision on Route 202 to monitor traffic and assist riders as the bike leg of a local triathlon was scheduled to pass thru town.

Standing at his post, a ring caught his eye. “I couldn’t imagine how a real diamond ring would end up in the middle of a busy roundabout, so I just put it in my pocket and worked my shift,” Allen shared.

When he got home, Allen told the story to his wife, who upon inspection immediately identified the ring as “real” and agreed that they had to get it back to the rightful owner.

As a first step, and a known long-shot, they decided to post on the Gorham Facebook page where they asked if anyone was missing a ring without giving away details to avoid scammers.

Meanwhile, as Horgan and Milan were returning from their weekend of R&R, they were catching up on Facebook and discovered Allen’s post. Trying not to let their excitement get the best of them and realizing it could be anyone’s ring, within twenty minutes of Allen’s original post, Horgan was on the phone with him and sent a photo of the ring for verification.

“As soon as Geoff positively identified the ring as ours, Martina and I were both in tears. So happy to get the ring back and so grateful that the person who found it was such a Good Samaritan,” Horgan gushed.

Addresses were shared, and Milan and Horgan were headed straight to Allen’s to pick up the ring. Within an hour, Milan had the ring back on her finger.

Horgan was so grateful he tried to pay Allen a reward, but Allen would have none of that. “In a Facebook post later that day I did jokingly ask Stephen if this meant I would get an invite to the wedding, and Stephen quickly assured me he’d love to have us,” Allen said.

“We are so grateful for the Gorham Facebook page and all of the people who offered their support and kind words,” Horgan said in closing. “I sent Geoff a gift card to thank him, but nothing can repay him for the peace and happiness he brought to our family.”