Ross Pixler and April Lane started out like the leads of a romantic adventure. Now, they're hoping for the happy ending where the odds are beaten and the treasure is found by a kind stranger.

Ross and April met cute. It was early in the morning at a train station two years ago. Their courtship continued while Ross finished his studies at the U.S. Miliary Academy at West Point. He graduated on May 28 of this year. A day later, Ross and April were married.

The honeymoon trip was like something out of a movie as well. The couple visited Florida, Las Vegas and then came to Hawai'i on a cruise ship.

While docked in Kaua'i, they took a day trip to kayak up a river. They're both a little uncertain about the name of the river. They think it might be Hanalei but they also remember seeing the Sleeping Giant, so maybe it was Wailua.

The one thing they're both sure of was swinging off the rope used by the character Indiana Jones in the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which means they were most likely on the Hule'ia river near Nawiliwili.

Ross swung out on the Indiana Jones rope and his West Point class ring slipped from his finger and fell into the water.

"We know exactly where it was lost, if we had goggles and more time we could have found it, but we were on a shore excursion through Norwegian Cruise Lines," April said in an e-mail.

The water was only about six or seven feet deep there and very calm, they recall. After diving in and feeling around the bottom for about half an hour, Ross and April had to give up the search to get back to their ship in time.

"Please, he just graduated and I know he is heartbroken even though he puts on a good front," April wrote.

The West Point ring is yellow gold, with a blue topaz as the center stone. There are two small diamonds on the side. There is an eagle on one side of it and the class year, 2005, as well. Ross' name is engraved on the inside.

The Pixlers are stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., far away from her hometown of Saugerties, N.Y., and his in Phoenix, and far away from the class ring that symbolizes his time at West Point.

"We had a good time (in Hawai'i), but that day was certainly ruined," April said.

Since then, they've posted descriptions on Web bulletin boards carrying lists of lost class rings. There is even a Web listing specifically for lost West Point class rings. Ross' is not the only 2005 ring to have been lost. One was lost in a bathroom in Dulles Airport, another in a restaurant in Chicago.

The Pixlers hoped to hear from their tour guide, who promised to look for the ring but never got back to them, and they've been searching for help long distance on an island where they know no one and are not even sure the name of the river that holds the treasure.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.