LAKEVIEW — Two years ago on a Panama beach, Megan Soraghan couldn't figure out why her boyfriend wouldn't get in the water.
She beckoned him, but Brent Burris refused to submerge himself in the ocean waves. Instead, he backed out onto the beach, knelt down, pulled out a ring and proposed.
Burris had carried the engagement ring through airport customs and 4,000 miles for the beach proposal — which is part of the reason Soraghan was so upset when she lost it along with her wedding ring at a Lakeview park this week.
Now Megan Burris, 31, of Lincoln Square, works as a nanny for two children and took them to Juniper Park, 3652 N. Greenview Ave., on Monday. Before slathering her young charges with sunscreen, Soraghan took off her rings and set them in her lap.
With a fleeting thought to remember the rings, she stood up and walked away with the children. An hour later, Burris realized her mistake.
"It was pure shock, but at first I kept thinking they were probably right there. I kept thinking, 'I'll find them, I'll find them,'" she told DNAinfo Chicago. Burris and her sister began searching, with other parkgoers pitching in, but with no luck.
Burris returned home and began making signs to post around the neighborhood when her husband walked in the door.
"At first, I wasn't going to tell him for a while, but I explained it to him. He was pretty upset, but his thing is that they're material things and can hopefully be replaced," she said.
Still, Burris doesn't want it to come to that. The lost rings are a symbol of special moments in her life and the love her husband took in picking them out, so the sentimental value is irreplaceable.
She first met Brent in 2009, and after a year of friendship, he asked her out for breakfast. She was attracted to his friendliness; the day they moved in together, he was already on a first-name basis with most of their neighbors, she said.
For the past week, she's been posting signs, asking for help on EveryBlock and enlisting family and friends to keep an eye out.
There haven't been any leads yet, but Burris said she's hoping the person who picked up the rings might accept a $1,000 reward for their return — no questions asked.
"Maybe a kid picked them up and threw them in someone's stroller. Or someone just picked them up and walked away. We haven't even been married a year. I'm just hoping they turn up," she said.
If you can help Burris, email her at mims2411@aol.com.
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