The girl said she initially thought the ring might have been one of the plastic toys that her grandmother, Kathy Russell, likes to hide in the sand for kids to find, but she showed it to her grandpa, Tom Ashcroft, who quickly determined it was no toy.
Ashcroft said the Jasper High School ring bore the initials "S.A.W." and the year 1974 -- the same year that Hollingsworth's other grandma, Ann Czerwinski, attended the school.
The family called Czerwinski, who opened one of her old yearbooks and determined the ring most likely belonged to a schoolmate named Sam Wagner.
Ashcraft said he was recounting the story to his boss when the other man directed him to another employee, who is related to Wagner by marriage.
The family contacted Wagner, who now lives with his wife, Susan, in Ireland Township.
Susan Wagner recalled hanging out with Sam, her then-boyfriend, at the same beach in 1974. She said she was wearing the ring when it fell off her finger and became lost in the sand. The couple were unable to locate it, so she bought him a replacement.
Ashcroft said his family is making plans to meet up with the Wagners in the near future to return the ring.
Wagner's ring spent even more time in the sand than a similar ring belonging to a woman named Amy Goetz.
Goetz said her 2001 class ring from Collins High School in Suwanee, Ga., was lost during a 2002 trip to Jacksonville Beach, Fla. She thought the ring was gone for good until it was found 18 years later by John Porcella, who frequently combs the beach with his metal detector. Goetz said she was surprised to discover the ring still fits on her finger.
