Before Racquel Cloutier went to the hospital to deliver her fifth child, she hid her $23,000 diamond wedding ring in a plain watch box to keep it safe from her two-year-old twins. As she was in the hospital recovering, her husband, Eric Cloutier, decided to hold a yard sale in part to keep the couple's other children occupied. Only one problem: he accidentally put the watch box, containing the $23,000 ring inside, for sale – for $10 – and someone bought it.

Cloutier realized the ring was missing last week, when she returned from the hospital.

“I go into my husband’s closet, can’t find the box, and then he tells me he sold it. I said, ‘You sold it? What do you mean you sold it?’ I immediately started crying,” Cloutier told ABC News.

“I’m very, very, very upset,” Cloutier continued. “I’m trying to remain optimistic but I don’t know anymore. There’s a small chance whoever bought the box doesn’t know the ring is in there.”

The ring, according to Eric Cloutier, was bought by a blonde woman, who hesitated before making the purchase. Cloutier said she's optimistic the woman – or whoever finds it – will return the ring. “If you're honest, you're honest,” she said.

As for Cloutier's husband, he's had better weeks. “He feels terrible,” Cloutier said.

[Image via ABC News]

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