Twin dive team recovers missing Longhorn and Aggie class rings at Lake Travis
Class rings discovered after dive in Lake Travis
A discovery at the bottom of Lake Travis has created a new bond between some Aggies and Longhorns.
LAKE TRAVIS, Texas - A discovery at the bottom of Lake Travis has created a new bond between some Aggies and Longhorns.
Two class rings were found on a recent dive and the search for the owners turned out to be as lucky as the recovery.
Discovery of class rings
The backstory:
A dive into Lake Travis can be an adventure, but a recent dive for Zane and Ella Gates became a double case of search and recovery.
"I was shocked, especially since it wasn't the same, we weren't diving together," said Ella Gates.
The twin brother and sister were recently on a certified dive near Starnes Island with Robert Weiss, the owner of Lake Travis Scuba.
"There's gold in the lake," said Weis.
The flash of something golden, in Ella's dive light, is what caught her attention.
"I saw, I mean, just maybe a centimeter of gold, like, tucked in some sediment and rocks. I saw the Texas A&M there and was just like, there's no way that I just pulled an Aggie ring out of this dirt," said Ella Gates.
Ella knows what an Aggie graduation ring looks like because she attends Texas A&M. When she surfaced, Ella said she thought she had a unique story. But Zane, who was already on the boat, had his own deep-water discovery to share.
"When I got out of the water he was like, oh yeah, you know, class ring. And I was like, who told you that? I literally just got here. Turns out he was talking about a different class ring," said Ella.
Zane, who attends the University of Texas, found a Texas class ring on the other side of Starnes Island.
"I'm just scanning stuff and catching that glimmer. And it was like, well, let's go see what that is. And then pull it out and look at it. And sure enough, the towers looking at me and I was like, oh, that's a UT ring. That's pretty awesome. Zane got a Longhorn ring. And I'm like, of course he would," said Ella.
The luck of the day continued after the group returned to shore and the search for the ring's owners began. The rings belong to Mia Fuentes and David Valdez. They spoke to FOX 7 about losing their rings.
"Yeah, my heart dropped," said Valdez.
Mia Fuentes had a similar feeling when she realized her ring had slipped off her finger while swimming.
"It felt, I mean, my heart sunk," said Fuentes.
The two were on separate party barge trips to Starnes Island. Mia in 2024 and 2023 for David. The twin discoveries by the twin siblings are no surprise to Robert Weiss. On his boat there is a bucket filled with items that he had found at the bottom of the lake.
"The party barges that come out, we call them vending machines," said Weiss.
Getting told her ring was located was something totally unexpected for Mia.
"I was, like, oh my goodness. This is absolutely insane. There's no way that, you know, they found my ring after all those months," said Mia.
The search was successful because Mia's name is etched inside the ring's band. Zane described the note he sent Mia.
"Hey, did you ever lose a ring in Lake Travis by any chance? And that was a shocking moment to see on your phone and the text messages that Mia sent back were, yeah, like how would you know that? What do you mean? Do you have it," said Zane Gates.
The search had a turn that could have become a dead-end.
"What makes this story so crazy. I originally was going to put a Bible verse in my ring and I decided not even to put my full name but to put first name and my middle name and I don't go by my middle named very often," said Mia.
Mia's middle name is also on her Instagram page. It was a critical clue in the search.
"Had I not had my middle name on either one of those or maybe not my last name, they would have probably not found me," said Mia.
Ella delivered Mia’s ring for Zane who was unable to make the trip. Reuniting David Valdez with his ring was a little easier. His full name is on it.
"She messaged me on LinkedIn. And I was like, I was in, what? Like, I couldn't believe when I read I was so surprised," said Valdez.
The reunion, according to Ella, was a sweet moment with a little Aggie pride thrown in.
"You can't have written it any better yourself," said Valdez.
The recovery of the rings created a lasting bond for the four.
"I'm really grateful that people like that exist," said Valdez.
Zane and Ella said the recovery and search were fun experiences that made them want to go back to Lake Travis for another deep-water search.
"I'm excited for the next thing I do at Lake Travis. You never know what you can find," said Zane.
Over the past few years, Robert Weiss has recovered several lost rings. A few days ago, he pulled out a wedding band that was lost during movie night at Volente Beach.
He said he has recovered 32 Apple watches that went overboard into the lake.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Rudy Koski