A Good Samaritan with a heart of gold and a metal detector came to the rescue of a couple that dropped their ring into Loose Park Pond! 
 
 Michael Long heard the story of Seth Dixon and his "splash" proposal to girlfriend Ruth Salas online. 
 
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 Seth had attempted to propose to Ruth on a bridge at Loose Park earlier this month when he dropped the ring onto the bridge, and it fell through into the murky water below. 
 
 "I had a metal detector. I just thought it would just be nice to get up there, help a random couple out and find the ring before someone else found it," said Long. 
 
 
 
 It took him two separate days and hours in the water - but on Saturday - he struck gold - quite literally. 
 
 Using nothing but his metal detector, and a bucket of rocks to hold him down - Long combed the bottom of Loose Park Pond. 
 
 He found around 25 nails, a toy car, and finally, after three hours of searching, he found the ring. 
 
 Long said he just wanted to make an adventure of it - and help someone out at the same time. 
 
 "I knew once I got there the first time it was a lot more challenging than I thought," said Long. "On my second trip I was determined and confident I was within feet of it." 
 
 Long was able to verify that it was Seth and Ruth's ring - and he gave it to a friend of the couple's for safekeeping Tuesday. 
 
 Seth and Ruth excitedly posted about the event Wednesday before their flight back to Kansas City from California. 
 
 In a surprise move - the couple was on Jimmy Kimmel Tuesday night - and Kimmel also gave them a new ring. 
 
 No word yet on what their plans are for the old one. ||||| KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The look on Seth Dixon’s face as he proposed to his girlfriend said it all, but not in the way you might think. 
 
 According to a post on wedding photographer Staci Dabney’s Facebook page, Dixon had taken his girlfriend, Ruth Salas, to Loose Park to ask her one of the most important questions in both of their lives. 
 
 "We've been dating for almost four years and we knew this day was coming," he explained. 
 
 The setting was as picturesque as it gets. Imagine a beautiful wooden bridge stretching over a pond with gorgeous fall weather and lush greenery creating a dreamy background. 
 
 "I knew I wanted to propose (at Loose Park) just because it's kind of our spot," Dixon explained. "We just kind of fell in love with the park and the beauty of it." 
 
 Of course, cameras were rolling as Dixon fell to his knee. 
 
 "Next thing you know, it's happening. I couldn't believe it," Salas explained. "At first, I was like, 'Oh my goodness. This is happening. He's on one knee.'" 
 
 Excitement was written all over his and Salas’ faces, but their expressions soon turned to looks of horror. 
 
 Dixon opened the little black box to reveal the ring… just before it flipped out of his hands, through a tiny crack in the boards of the bridge, and into that pond below. 
 
 "It ping-ponged through the crack and I hear it plop in the water," Salas said. "I didn't know what else to think but, 'Oh my goodness.'" 
 
 ​​​​​​ 
 
 Friends of the couple got to work to try to find the ring, donning goggles and other swimming gear to search the neck-deep water for the lost band. 
 
 Maddie Villareal, a longtime friend of Dixon, was one of the people who helped in the search. 
 
 "The bottom was the worst part because it was like slimy, muddy and there were sticks everywhere," she explained. "I know (finding the ring) was important to them. If it was me, I would hope they would do it for me." 
 
 They sadly were not able to find it, so instead set up a GoFundMe page to help the couple purchase a new one. 
 
 Amazingly, the couple now maintains a positive spirit following the incident. 
 
 "It's been a roller coaster. Emotions have been up and down," Dixon said. "After seeing the video over and over we just started laughing about it." 
 
 Moving forward, the couple said the ring incident would add to the story of their relationship. 
 
 "We've been together for four years with ups and downs," Salas explained. "I'm not leaving him because of a lost ring." 
 
 Dixon and Salas are set to tie the knot in October ||||| "What a way to start your life together - with a SPLASH." 
 
 No kidding. 
 
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 Missouri photographer Staci Dabney got an incredible story while taking some rather unique engagement pictures. 
 
 When Seth Dixon decided to propose to his girlfriend, Ruth Salas, he picked a romantic spot to pop the question: a beautiful bridge over water in Kansas City's Loose Park. 
 
 
 
 But when Dixon opened that tiny velvet box, the unthinkable happened. 
 
 The ring flew out of the box, bouncing onto the bridge before slipping through the tiny cracks...and into the water below. 
 
 "All of a sudden this joyful moment took a rapid turn for disappointment," Dabney wrote on her Facebook page. 
 
 
 
 Not willing to let the ring go without a fight, Seth and Ruth's friends grabbed their goggles and dove in to search for the sparkly treasure. While the group didn't manage to find the ring, the ordeal left the happy couple with a heckuva story and some incredibly share-worthy pictures. 
 
 The couple's friends have also put together a GoFundMe page to raise money to replace the ring. 
 
 "This couple might not have the picture perfect engagement story but they do have a story they hope will bring joy and laughter to you as you read it," Dabney wrote. "Sometimes our love stories aren't always as perfect as we planned, but always work out in the end!" 
 
 
 
 Stacy Dabney's Photography 
 
 AlertMe ||||| Loose Park proposal falls through the cracks 
 
 Dating for four years, Kansas City couple Seth Dixon and Ruth Salas were ready to take the plunge into marriage. They just never anticipated having to literally go diving for the engagement ring. Video courtesy of Staci Dabney Photography.
– It was the "little plop" heard 'round the world. Seth Dixon and Ruth Salas likely thought they'd never find Salas' $3,000 engagement ring again after Dixon accidentally dropped it off a wooden footbridge and into a pond while proposing in Kansas City earlier this month. But thanks to a man WMUR calls a "Good Samaritan with a heart of gold," the couple now has the ring back—and an extra ring from Jimmy Kimmel to boot. That Good Samaritan, Michael Long, also has a metal detector, and so when he heard about the lost ring, he "thought it would just be nice to get up there, help a random couple out, and find the ring before someone else found it." Long says it took him hours, spread out over two days, to find the ring in Loose Park Pond, pulling up a couple dozen nails and a toy car before he unearthed what he was looking for on Saturday. Per the Kansas City Star, the ring had already been found when Dixon and Salas appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, where they re-created the ill-fated proposal, then accepted a brand-new diamond ring from Kimmel to replace their lost one. (Long says he got in touch with Dixon in California on Monday.) Dixon said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that they alerted Kimmel's staff about Long's discovery once they found out about it—he noted the ring was found while "Ruth and I have been in Los Angeles"—and that "we have been completely honest ... during this entire process." He also notes Kimmel and Co. still insisted they keep the ring. "Now for the next adventure to get married on October 21, 2017!!!!" Dixon wrote.