OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The Winnebago County Sheriffs Office dive team, found something in an Appleton lake that made a 12-year-old's day.
- Early July, 12-year-old Molly Leupnitz lost her watch in Plamann Lake in Appleton.
- After three months underwater, the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office dive team found the watch still functioning.
- Leupnitz saved for a year to buy the watch, and she was very excited to have it back.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, edited for web)
John Gende has been a deputy for the Winnebago County Sheriffs Office for 12 years.
And he's now a member of the dive search and rescue team.
“I love the fact that when you’re underwater, it’s just a completely different experience than being on land," he said.
During a dive team training session on Friday the 13th Deputy Gende found something unexpected.
"I thought it was pretty interesting," he said. "And it looked different than the contour of the rest of lake."
It was an Apple Watch, resting eight feet below the surface.
"I pulled it out of the lake, a lot of people swim there," he said. “I don't know too much about apple watches or how they operate."
Gende gave it to a coworker, deputy Terri Petri, who charged it overnight.
“I could see that it lit up," Petri said. "So then I knew it was working.”
She searched the unlocked watch for signs of the owner.
"I started to look through the phone and was like, 'oh this is a kids watch,'" she said. "From that I could find the dad’s phone number."
And almost 30 miles away, in the small city of Wrightstown, Andrew Harris picked up.
"About nine am, got a call from the sheriffs office of Winnebago County," Harris said. "Asking my name and then if Molly was my daughter."
Deputy Petri told Harris she had found his daughter's – Molly Leupnitz's, watch.
“I did a lot of babysitting and chores around the house and then I saved my birthday money and Christmas money," Leupnitz said. "I was working for a long time to save for the watch."
Twelve-year-old Leupnitz said she lost her watch swimming in early July.
"How hard I worked to get it, and then I was pretty sad when I lost it," she said.
And besides a rusted band, the watch still works.
"I was pretty excited," Leupnitz said. "I'm surprised that it held for that long."
Harris said he was glad the sheriff's office put the effort in to return his daughter's watch.
“Thanks to the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office," he said. "Going above and beyond.”
But it was no question for the deputies.
“They picked it up and he asked for help so I'm glad we could help and she got her watch back," deputy Petri said. "I wouldn’t think of doing anything else.”
