At Risk Of Sounding Like A Broken Record Here...

[cuniagau]

I had been watching the thread by Dan(NM) entitled "What Would You Do In This Situation?" with more than just an observer's interest as I also found a Texas A&M University 10K gold ring on July 15.  (I guess those Aggies have rings to throw away) LOL  While I checked Craigslist, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and local groups such as Nextdoor, I didn't find any listing of "Lost Ring" on anything.  Google provided me with 66 listings with his name.  I watched the progress Dan(NM) was making (or not making) with the Texas A&M Ring site and knew that was probably not the way to go as his ring was 2019 and the one I found was 2006.  That is a lot more years for changed addresses and phone numbers.  I started my search looking for someone about 38 years old who might have graduated in 2006.  Not coming up with any leads I expanded my search to some older individuals, as being a "later college grad myself" I knew the age may need to be expanded.  It took several weeks of part time research to whittle the list down to a handful of possible owners.  Facebook turned up the best leads and by drilling down into his family members FB pictures, I was able to locate one man who wore a large ring on his right hand in several pictures.  And he happened to have a thesis printed by A&M for his Doctrine Degree in 2007 but submitted it in 2006.   Back to Google again and I came up with an email address for a Professor at a university and sent him an email entitled "I found a Texas A&M University Ring"... for a subject title and then simply said "If this sounds familiar reply back to me and if not sorry for your time.  I got a response within 10 minutes.  I then sent him my phone number and we had a nice 15-minute chat about the ring.  To say he was excited would be an understatement.  He told me the name of the beach and the location on the beach where he thought that he had lost it.  Within an hour of the first email, the ring was in the mail and on its way home.  That is a big chunk of gold out of my inventory for the year but it was only a piece of gold to me, it was 16 years of memories for him.   

[CPT_GhostLight]

Well good on you man! Sometimes the extra effort pays off. Well done!

 

[Againstmywill]

You did what you would want someone else to do for you without expecting anything in return. You sound like you were taught right from wrong as a youngster and how to be selfless. Thanks for helping give the rest of us detectorists a good name. Well done!

Also, were you a detective at one point? Your methods of tracking this guy down are inspirational and will help others sort out how to begin looking for someone should they find a class ring. Thanks for sharing.

[Compass]

Awesome return Cuniagau! Kudos for doing the right thing even though it may have felt a little bittersweet!

[geof_junk]

4 hours ago, cuniagau said:

That is a big chunk of gold out of my inventory for the year but it was only a piece of gold to me, it was 16 years of memories for him.   

You had the thrill of finding it as well as the enjoyment of making someone extremely happy. I am sure MIDAS will reward you soon. 

[strick]

Thats a great story and a big azz gold ring.... good on you bro for doing all that detective work.... I would have given up after a couple days because I really like looking at them in my display case... 🙂

strick

[cuniagau]

3 hours ago, Againstmywill said:

Also, were you a detective at one point? Your methods of tracking this guy down are inspirational and will help others sort out how to begin looking for someone should they find a class ring. Thanks for sharing.

Againstmywill,

No, on being a detective.  But it is called deductive reasoning.   It may not give you the exact answer, but it sure eliminates a lot of the fluff and gets you into the ballpark.   Once I started down a rabbit hole, I could eliminate that person.  So, it is more about whittling down the list to the point that there are only a few left and at that point you can pick the most likely and see what happens. 

Joe

[Valens Legacy]

Very nice reading the article, always nice to know that there are good people left in this world.

I just wonder if that may have been one that I lost, but I know that I didn't go to that school, but it is a ring.

Good luck on your next outing.

[ColonelDan]

Outstanding! 

[mn90403]

Excellent diligence.  There were lots of places you could have stopped looking.  You deserve more than a thank you.