Dear all: I did laundry and forgot to remove my dress shirt metal collar stays. After I finished the load I realized the collar stays are gone. I looked in the drum and did not find them.

I am afraid they went into the washer through the drain slits. Any suggestions on removing these as to prevent damage to the machine will be appreciated.

I tried opening the top section to gain access to the drum but can't get it opened. Are there retaining clips on the front as one video on the internet suggests? They say to use a putty knife to undo some clips, but this did not work and I did not want to push hard and break something.

Any help will be appreciated.