A Staten Island jeweller has gotten her 3-carat diamond earrings back after she, her husband and city sanitation employees sorted through a smelly heap of garbage. The studs were in a small jar of cleaning solution, which a worker at the couple's jewellery store had accidentally thrown away.

The earrings were recovered on Thursday at the former Fresh Kills landfill, where trash is compacted and shipped out of state.

Owner Haya Sharon calls the find 'a miracle' The earrings were an anniversary gift from her husband.

Sanitation Department spokesman Keith Mellis says engagement rings and other precious possessions have been plucked from piles of city garbage in the past. -- AP