BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- A U.S. woman who lost her mother's diamond ring got it back in a piece of homemade fudge, U.S. media reported Sunday.

    Linda Vancel, in Lafayette, Indiana, was despondent after she scoured her home for a week for a white gold ring and found no sign of it.

    The ring was passed on her from her mother who died 15 years ago after wearing 50 years.

    Later she sent a long-shot e-mail to Linda Rhoades, the woman who had purchased the fudge during a bake sale at State Farm Insurance in West Lafayette, where Vancel worked as an underwriter.

    Vancel got the reply that read "YES, I have your ring!" a week later after Rhoades returned from vacation.

    Rhoades took some of fudge to her sister-in-law's father, Charles Matson, in hopes of cheering him up. And Matson bit the hard ring!

    "It's got chocolate all over it, but it doesn't look adjustable. It's got a stone that's really shiny." Matson called Rhoades.

    Vancel said the the return of the ring reminded her that there are a lot of good people out there.

    Vancel called the ring "a very sentimental ring" which "has no real value dollarwise."

    (Agencies)