"He just stumbled upon it in the sand and said he knew it would be 'respectful and nice'" to return the locket, Schlitz told Patch.
Schlitz posted a photo of the find on Facebook, and it was recognized as the Dawydiak family a short time later.
Paula Dawydiak contacted Schlitz and explained she'd lost the locket years ago.
"I am a nurse at Stony Brook and I can't stop thinking about my family at this time. I would love to get it back if possible," Dawydiak wrote in a message to Schlitz.
She added that getting the locket back is especially significant now because the photo was taken just before her oldest daughter, Christi, moved to Boston for a new job. She said Christi is not able to make her usual Easter visit home due to the coronavirus epidemic.
"It's great to know that somebody found this, thought that it belongs to a family -- and took extra measures to get it back to us," Dawydiak said.
