South Carolina man's long-lost class ring found by road crew

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A pair of South Carolina Department of Transportation employees were able to reunite a man with the class ring he lost two decades earlier.

Transportation employees James Lindsey and Houston Hood said they were clearing out a roadside ditch in rural Sumter County, near Shiloh, when they found a class of 2000 ring from Fort Dorchester High School.

The men determined a name was engraved inside the band, but they were unable to read it, so they enlisted the help of Hood's daughter, Allie Hood, who owns a microscope.

Allie Hood was able to make out the engraved name, Jimmie Baker, and took to social media to try to find the owner.

She posted about the ring in the Downtown Sumter Community Watch group on Facebook, and Fort Dorchester High School shared photos of the ring on its official Facebook page.

Friends and classmates who saw the post reached out to Baker.

"I didn't think there were any other Jimmies with an 'ie' that graduated with me, so I just knew it had to be mine, but I still couldn't believe it," Baker told WRDW-TV.

Baker said he lost the ring about 20 years ago, shortly after he received it.

Lindsey and Hood said they were happy to be able to help Baker with his ring and said Allie Hood "really did all the work."