Class ring lost in Florida Keys waters found 36 years later

July 12 (UPI) -- A diver off the coast of the Florida Keys discovered a class ring at the bottom of the water that turned out to have been lost by its owner 36 years earlier.

Shawn Rauch said he was using a metal detector to search for a lost wedding ring in 8 feet of water off Lido Key when he found a class of 1986 ring from Lassiter High School in Marietta, Ga.

Rauch said he only had the ring's owners initials to go on, and some research determined there were three members of the graduating class with the same initials.

The diver said he was able to narrow down the field and identify the likely owner.

"His name was Mark Murray, and there was virtually no information about him on the Internet," Rauch told WWSB-TV.

Rauch said he was able to speak to some of Murray's classmates, and they helped the two men connect on the phone.

Murray said he had only had the ring for about two weeks when he lost it in 1985.

"Thirty-six years ago," Murray said. "I got that ring junior year of high school I had for what, two weeks when I lost it."

Rauch mailed the ring to Murray, who said he his grateful to have it back in his possession.

"I remember my father was so mad at me," Murray said. "He spent however much on it, and I lost it in two weeks."