David Reyes, 47, of Mililani, Hawaii, said his ring was stolen from his home a few months after he graduated from California's Rio Hondo Police Academy in 1988 and during the ensuing years gave up hope of ever seeing the ring again, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

However, Reyes said he was contacted by a Hialeah, Fla., police detective who "told me he had my ring. I couldn't even believe it," Reyes said. "I don't know how it got all the way across the country."

Hialeah Detectives Osvaldo Gonzalez and Antonio Llaneras said they found the ring during a search of the city's pawn shops for items that had been reported stolen in burglaries.

"Usually policemen wouldn't let go of something like this. Going through the academy is hard enough," Gonzalez said of the ring. "It's a memento you have forever."

Gonzalez and Llaneras said they found Reyes by contacting the police academy.

Reyes said that while he is happy to be getting his ring back, he is unlikely to display it on his finger.

"Back then I was 150 pounds and in shape," he said. "Now I'm 190. I don't think it'll fit."