VIRGINIA BEACH — When a 12-carat emerald disappeared off the wrist of a prominent Virginia Beach developer attending a swanky birthday party at the Cavalier Beach Club earlier this month, two employees jumped into action.

One even leapt into a dumpster.

Now, Cavalier employees Crystal Giradin and Addison Ott are being lauded for their integrity and perseverance after scouring through the trash in search of the expensive gem — and eventually finding it.

“Those girls went beyond their call of duty,” said Cheryl McLeskey, who was wearing the cuff bracelet that night. “It’s really not about the gem. It’s about these two young girls that had a great heart for solving the problem.”

The evening started off with a bang.

McLeskey, owner of a Virginia Beach commercial and residential real estate development company, arrived at the beach club decked out in a white dress and a suite of shiny gold and vivid green emerald jewelry. The necklace, ring and bracelet were on loan from G Marie Luxuries, a local high-end jewelry store.

McLeskey was escorting her boyfriend, former Gov. Bob McDonnell, into his surprise 70th birthday party.

At the same event, the Virginia Beach Jaycees would also catch McDonnell off guard, naming him Virginia Beach’s First Citizen.

Caught in a whirlwind of greetings and hugs from family and friends most of the evening, McDonnell and McLeskey didn’t have time to eat the oysters Rockefeller or the sliced beef tenderloin. Not a bite, McLeskey said.

Toward the end of the night, the couple kicked up their heels on the dance floor to the tunes of The Original Rhondels. McLeskey finally sat down at a table around 11 p.m. when the band stopped. Only a few people were still at the party. The staff was cleaning up.

“I looked down at my wrist and one of the emeralds was missing,” said McLeskey.

Emeralds are ranked among the traditional “big four” most valuable gems along with diamonds, rubies and sapphires, according to the International Gem Society, a gemology resource website. The value of an emerald depends on the carat weight and quality, among other things. McLeskey declined to put a figure on the bracelet. The gem itself — about the size of a dime — was likely worth thousands of dollars.

“I had seen it earlier in the evening when I was walking by,” said Jim Boyd, a friend of McDonnell who had stayed late at the party and helped search for the missing emerald. “(McLeskey) said, ‘Let’s get a picture,’ and the bracelet had fallen off her wrist.”

McLeskey had put the bracelet back on and believes the emerald surrounded by diamonds was still in place when she started dancing.

“I knew it had to have fallen on the dance floor,” she said.

The staff had just swept. Giradin and Ott, who had been serving guests at the party, put on a pair of gloves and offered to search through the trash cans in the immediate area, McLeskey said.

The two employees declined to be interviewed, according to a Cavalier Resort spokesperson.

Boyd said they soon realized most of the trash had already been taken to a dumpster in the parking garage. The three of them headed that way.

Giradin climbed inside the dumpster and removed nearly a dozen black trash bags that had not yet been compacted, Boyd said. They started digging into them, looking for one with confetti that had been scattered across the dance floor.

Elbows into the sixth bag, Giradin finally spotted the emerald.

“There it was laying in the goop in the very bottom,” Boyd said.

Giradin ran back to the beach club and returned it to McLeskey, who had prayed it would be found.

“I was never upset about it. You can replace material things.” said McLeskey. “It’s the power of positive thinking, believing that we were going to find it.”

McLeskey gave Giradin and Ott a cash reward for their honesty and determination, though they were reluctant to accept it, she said. The Cavalier Resort has also recognized both of them for their efforts.

“Those are the kind of employees that you want,” said McLeskey. “They knew how important it was to the customer. It was a great ending to a great night.”

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com