Ohio family reunited with late relative's class ring after 20 years

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- An Ohio family said they feel like they have a piece of a late family member back after his class ring was returned to them 20 years after being lost.

Jed Worline, of Continental, said his brother, Josh, lost his Continental High School class of 1999 ring while working near Forest, Ohio, in 2000.

Josh Worline died in 2005 after suffering an epileptic episode, and family members said they did not think anymore about his lost ring until a former classmate reached out to Jed late last year to pass on the contact information for a man named Harry Payton.

Payton, of Upper Sandusky, said he was using his metal detector at a park in Forest when he came across a class ring with a Pirate logo on it. He did research online and determined it likely belonged to a Continental High School graduate.

Payton reached out to the administrator of a Class of 1999 page on Facebook and learned the identity of the ring's owner, as well as the story of his death.

"It made perfect sense, because Josh was in that part of the state for work when he lost it," Jed Worline told The Crescent-News. "That happened in 2000, so the ring had been lost for more than 20 years.

"I reached out to Harry. ... I'm not an emotional person, but that tugged on my heart strings and it brought back so many memories of my brother."

Jed Worline gave the ring to his mother, Etta Worline.

"I was in shock when I realized whose ring it was," Etta Worline said. "The man who found the ring gave a part of Josh back to me. It's hard for me to explain it, but it felt right after all that time."

A wedding ring was recently returned to its owner's finger 48 years after it was lost in the Chicago snow. Karen Autenrieth said the ring fell from her finger while she was helping her kids get into the car, and she was unable to locate it amid all the snow and ice.

Autenrieth's ring was found eight years ago -- 40 years after it was lost -- by a woman working in her garden near the spot where it fell off her finger. The woman recently posted about the ring on Facebook, and online sleuths helped her find its owner.