Corier Australia Perth

Gold dumper husband Geoff buys into media fame

As revealed in The Courier-Mail yesterday, Caloundra man "Geoffrey"  had a lot of explaining to do after accidentally throwing out decades worth of his wife's jewellery last week - days before their 23rd wedding anniversary no less.

Geoff was somewhat of a national celebrity yesterday, fielding calls from television and radio stations from as far away as Perth to hear his story of loss, love and an innocent offer to take out the trash.

Last night The Courier-Mail

"My wife is an angel. She just called me then to say 'I love you, you big dope'."

Unfortunately the media attention hasn't brought him any closer to his misplaced loot, which he says he will donate to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation if ever recovered.

Sunshine Coast Regional Council waste manager Wayne Schafer said "we're getting into needle in haystack territory".

"It's probably under three to four metres of waste by now.

"If you dropped a gold ring on the beach there might be some hope of finding it but the metal detector would go off all the time at the tip."

More than 280 garbage trucks each dump 400 wheelie bins of trash at the Caloundra tip each week.

"If we pick it up early there's a chance, or if we identify the truck and try to intercept it," Schafer says. "Or maybe if it's in the recycling bin - which is sorted on a conveyor belt. We found an engagement ring in the back of a truck before."

As for Geoffrey's wife, she says "it's just money".

"We were talking about it the other night and saw Daniel's poor parents on the television," she said.

"They would give anything to be in our position."

Geoffrey plans to take his wife on a holiday.