Man Drops Ring 100 Feet Into Snow During Proposal — 3 Hours Later, A Snowmaker Finds It

January 6, 2026

What was meant to be a picture-perfect proposal on a scenic sky bridge nearly turned into a disaster, until an unexpected hero saved the day.

Boyne Mountain Resort

Trevor Van Camp planned a surprise weekend getaway to Boyne Mountain and chose the Skybridge Michigan as the spot to propose to his girlfriend, Danielle Jenkins. High above the snowy slopes, Trevor dropped to one knee, pulled the ring from its box, and the unthinkable happened.

The ring slipped from his fingers, fell through the open grating of the bridge, and dropped about 118 feet into the snow below.

The couple spent more than two hours searching the ski slopes with metal detectors, helped by Pat Harper, Boyne Mountain’s night-shift snowmaking supervisor, who happened to have metal detectors in his car.

Eventually, Trevor and Danielle gave up, accepted the loss, and headed out — but Harper didn’t stop looking.

Around 10 p.m., his metal detector finally picked up a signal. He began digging through the snow and initially came up empty. Then, in a handful of snow, there it was — the edge of the ring.

“I kind of sat there for a minute and thought, ‘There’s no way I just found that,’” Harper said.

As Trevor and Danielle were preparing to leave Boyne, they received the call they’d been waiting for: the ring had been found.

“He saved the day — he really did,” Danielle said. “It was an experience that we now have a story to tell with our engagement.”