Approximately $100,000 in jewelry was recovered from the Hall County Landfill last week after it was mistakenly thrown away by a citizen.

"I just felt sick to my stomach when I realized what had happened," the owner of the jewelry told Hall County officials. "I thought there was no way it would ever be recovered, but it was."

Johnnie Vickers, Hall County Solid Waste Director, said a friend of the owner called the landfill, asking for help after realizing the mistake.

"We did what we always do in cases like this," Vickers said. "We tracked down when the trash came in, the color of the bag, what other contents the bag might carry, and we started looking."

Vickers said several members of his staff joined in the search, going through the trash on the tipping ground floor, dumping the bags out one by one until the missing jewels were located.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to have these recovered," said the citizen, who asked to remain anonymous. "These landfill employees, who have thankless jobs, went above and beyond in this case, and I can't thank them enough."

Vickers said this is not the first instance of valuables being recovered by his staff.

"It seems like every Christmas, someone accidentally throws away a child's gifts or we are sent looking for a precious keepsake during another time of year that somehow ended up in the trash," he said. "We are happy to help, and it's just a part of what we do."

The landfill is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.