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It took two hours of sifting through more than 200 bags of garbage at a New Jersey trash-transfer station before a New York City woman was reunited with three rings she mistakenly discarded.

The New York Daily News reports the 34-year-old woman was preparing Thanksgiving dinner at her Tribeca apartment when she removed the rings and placed them on a paper towel by the sink.

The jewelry, which included the woman's diamond-studded wedding band and engagement ring, accidentally wound up in the trash and was picked up by garbage collectors on Friday.

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By the time the woman contacted the city Department of Sanitation, the rings were among 13 tons of waste in a collection truck.

Sanitation officials say the rings were found because junk mail identified the woman's trash.