She thought she lost her great-grandmother’s necklace forever — until a stranger messaged her on Facebook

For many, heirlooms are priceless treasures passed down through generations—irreplaceable links to the past. But what happens when one goes missing?

That’s exactly what Diana Freedman from Long Island, New York, faced when she boarded a JetBlue flight from California to New York. She had no idea her trip would turn into a high-stakes treasure hunt. Sometime during the flight, the gold necklace she had worn for 20 years slipped from her neck. It wasn’t just any necklace—it was a cherished family heirloom, gifted to her by her grandmother, as reported by WABC-TV.

The necklace had been in Freedman’s family for nearly a century. Many years ago, her grandfather had gotten this necklace for his lovely bride, who was a dancer. As his fortunes grew, he kept embellishing the necklace with hearts and diamonds.

"It's like the American dream and a love story," Freedman said. "They were children of immigrants, and they came from nothing. And my grandfather gave my grandmother just a simple piece. And then, when he had enough money, he had it mounted onto a heart. And then when he had enough money after that, he gave her a diamond to put in it."

Her grandmother never took it off until passing it on to Freedman 20 years ago. So when she lost it, she was indeed “devastated.”

"It's almost like a piece of her, really, that everyone remembered her by, and the fact that she wanted to see me wear it with my own children," said Freedman. However, on this ill-fated day, the necklace clasp broke loose at some point during the flight, Freedman said in ABC7NY's Facebook post. While taking down her overhead luggage, the necklace dropped unbeknownst to her. Thankfully, the airport officials were cooperative enough to lend a helping hand in the matter.

A deputy at Palm Beach Airport shared the footage of the airport’s security cameras with her and pointed out that she was not wearing the necklace when leaving the terminal. Additionally, Freedman also posted an SOS on the "Long Islands Amazing Moms" Facebook group. “My family sat in row 19. I was in 19C. Used the bathroom once in the back of the plane. This gold necklace with a heart pendant with a gold star is a family heirloom and VERY sentimental,” she wrote in a Facebook post, adding that she was an “emotional mess” after losing it.

As luck would have it, one of the 28,000 moms in the Facebook group turned out to be a JetBlue executive. Penny Neferis, JetBlue's head of business continuity, worked laboriously to track the plane. Meanwhile, JetBlue Stations Operator Tom Hungerman got busy checking every lost-and-found drawer at Palm Beach International Airport. Thanks to this chain reaction of cooperative strangers, Freedman received her lost necklace just 48 hours later. "It was happy tears for a long time after that, and I still feel it right now. I feel so lucky and so blessed," she exclaimed.

“I am genuinely overwhelmed with the kindness of everyone who reached out and shared my post. I am thrilled to update you that the amazing JetBlue family shared my and found my necklace on the plane!” Freedman said, according to another Facebook post. Moving forward, Freedman plans to give a little repair to the heirloom necklace.