Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh airport workers recover missing diamond from traveler’s engagement ring
Friday the 13th lived up to its reputation for one woman passing through Pittsburgh International Airport. She lost the diamond from her engagement ring, but she wasn’t unlucky for long.
After a stressful 17 days of work around downtown Los Angeles, April Schmitt was making the flight on June 12 to come back home to Pittsburgh.
Schmitt had to deal with a series of flight delays, missed connections and an overnight stay in an airport hotel, but she finally made it back to Pittsburgh on Friday, June 13.
Woman loses diamond in baggage carousel
However, that was just the start of some bad luck. While standing at carousel B, Schmitt reached for her suitcase, but her hand got stuck.
“As I went to retrieve my bag from the carousel, my hand got stuck between the suitcase and the edge of the carousel. It pinched my hand, so I pulled my hand back really quickly,” she said.
In a state of shock, she walked away with her suitcase, but about 30 minutes later, when she was almost home, her ring finger felt different.
“I looked down and my ring was without a diamond,” she said.
There were four empty prongs where the center diamond of her engagement ring should be.
“It was devastating. I mean, I literally felt sick to my stomach as soon as I realized,” she said.
She drove back to the airport and began looking.
“I came in and I immediately started looking all around here, on the floor,” Schmitt said.
Airport workers join the search
Shortly after, four airport authority employees from the maintenance department joined in the search.
Stationary engineer Tom Riordan said the baggage carousel is “a labyrinth of steel.”
They all spent 90 minutes searching and crawling everywhere, even on the baggage carousel. They even pulled up some panels to look inside.
“Yeah, typical day,” said electrician Steve Turkaly with a laugh.
Despite their best efforts, Schmitt left for home again, still heartbroken.
Multiple flights arrived that day, and there were lots of suitcases for those passengers, but the airport employees didn’t give up. Four hours later, Schmitt got the call, telling her they found the one-and-a-quarter carat diamond.
“Two paint sticks taped together, scraping dirt from underneath the carousel, that’s how they actually found it,” Riordan said.
“Literally, my jaw dropped. I was ecstatic. I just couldn’t get to the airport quickly enough,” said Schmitt.
“It really felt good, I mean to see the expression on her face n’at, it made it all worth it,” Turkaly said.
“It restored my faith in humanity.”
It’s a diamond with 34 years of meaning to Schmitt. Her husband proposed to her with it on Friday, March 13, and they got married on Friday, Nov. 13, 1992. Now, after Friday, June 13, 2025, she’s counting the unluckiest day as her luckiest of all.
“It restored my faith in humanity, honestly,” she said.
“These men didn’t know me at all. They knew nothing about how long I’ve been married. They knew nothing about my husband or the stone or the sentimental value or the economic value, but that didn’t matter; they were just committed to doing the right thing,” she added.
If you also lose something at Pittsburgh International Airport, call customer service, which catalogs what’s lost and found, at 412-472-3525.
Pittsburg softball improved to 16-4 on the season by sweeping host Kansas City Piper 17-1 in five innings and 15-3 in six innings Saturday afternoon.
Breck Slaughter earned the win in both games. She allowed one run on two hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks over five innings during the opener. Then, she allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks over three innings.
AnnaLynn Hudson pitched the last three innings of the day for the Purple Dragons.
Offensively, Pittsburg scored 17 runs on 20 hits during the opener and all nine Dragons reached the hit column. Kenleigh Warford led with four hits, Breck Slaughter and Micah Gomez each had three and Brecken Campbell, Brette Pasteur, Laney Trisler and Emily Shriver each had two. Slaughter, Trisler and Gomez each doubled twice and Pasteur and Shriver also recorded two-baggers. Brilee Mantooth homered. Gomez led the Dragons with four RBI, Campbell had three and Trisler, Mantooth and Shriver drove in two each.
The Dragons closed out their sweep with 15 runs on just 11 hits. Pasteur had a monster performance at the plate with four runs scored, three hits in three at-bats, two home runs and five RBI; she also worked a pair of walks and proved to be an utter pain for Piper pitchers Reagan Asbury and Harper Cordill.
Campbell also homered and finished with three hits for the Dragons. Slaughter and Shriver both finished with two hits and both seniors doubled.
Pittsburg won four games during the week and outscored Labette County, Independence and Piper by a combined 59-11. The Dragons return to Southeast Kansas League play on the road Monday against Independence; the Dragons beat the Bulldogs 14-1 in five innings last Thursday in Pittsburg.
The Dragons are looking to wrap up at least a share of the SEK League title.
Pittsburg 612 44 — 17 20 0
KC Piper 000 01 — 1 2 5
Breck Slaughter and Peyton Morey; Stella Utter and Ginny Garcia. W: Slaughter. L: Utter. 2B—PHS: Slaughter 2, Brette Pasteur, Emily Shriver, Laney Trisler 2, Micah Gomez 2; KCP: Faith Flournoy. HR—PHS: Brilee Mantooth.
——
Pittsburg 225 105 — 15 7 2
KC Piper 100 101 — 3 6 6
Breck Slaughter, AnnaLynn Hudson (4) and Peyton Morey; Reagan Asbury, Harper Cordill (5) and Faith Flournoy. W: Slaughter. L: Asbury. 2B—PHS: Slaughter. HR—PHs: Brecken Campbell, Brette Pasteur 2; KCP: Ginny Garcia.
This sports reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/fund/support-local-journalism-project-fund/
Pittsburg, PA
Steelers insider just poured gasoline on the Aaron Rodgers fire following latest report of what he was doing in Pittsburgh
Aaron Rodgers was supposed to be in Pittsburgh over the weekend, with the thought that a deal would get done. One Steelers insider backs the report, but adds details that only compound a messy situation.
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
At this point, the events of the past two seasons between Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers could probably be a book or movie. Everything from walks on the beach, to him throwing with DK Metcalf before signing, to someone capturing him driving a rental car into Pittsburgh has made waves.
This offseason was supposed to be different, and a decision from Rodgers was supposed to come much earlier. However, the Steelers remain in a holding pattern, and one that many believed would end over the weekend, after it was reported that Rodgers would be in town to sign a contract. Well, that seems to be true, but like much of this saga over the past two years, there seems to be a holdup.
Aaron Rodgers 2025 stats
- 3.4 TD to INT ratio.
- 3,322 passing yards.
- 65.7% completion percentage.
Aaron Rodgers visited Pittsburgh, but not the Steelers over the weekend
“Aaron Rodgers has been in town for a couple days, but the Steelers have not met with him yet and instead have been talking with his agent. Rodgers has stayed away from the team’s South Side facility while the three-day rookie minicamp has been going on.” – Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The news from Dulac comes on the heels of the report from 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh that Rodgers would be visiting the Steelers over the weekend, with the intention to sign his deal.
That report was backed up nationally by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, but some in Steelers media (Mark Kaboly) said that if Rodgers was going to be in town, that was news to the team.
Omar Khan said as much during a radio hit after the reports surfaced, saying that he didn’t know where Rodgers was, but that talks remained fluid. Of course, general managers, including Omar Khan, have been known to bend the truth, which seems to lie somewhere in the middle here.
The bottom line with Aaron Rodgers
It’s obvious to me that the Steelers and Rodgers are held up over money. I know that it was said to not be the case, but you don’t intentionally avoid meeting with a team and have your agent talk to them, just days after they use a tender that determines your 2026 salary, if you’re just going to sign.
I would be surprised if Rodgers doesn’t sign at this point, but it doesn’t change the monetary situation that needs to be worked out here.
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