Locating Class Ring Owners

I have had the privilege to return numerous class rings and other items to their rightful owners over the years. Many people have asked me “How do you find these people?” Well here is the process that I go through. It isn’t free! The total cost of returning these items has far exceeded any monetary compensation but it doesn’t come close to the “satisfaction compensation” received from the gratitude and look on the owner’s face.

Almost all class rings have the school name and class year on the outside of the ring and the owner’s initials inscribed on the inside.

First I locate the school. If it isn’t an obvious local school I use phone search CD-ROM,s on the computer or I go to a phone search engine on the Internet. This search is quick and hasn’t failed me yet.

Next I search for the telephone number of the public library located in the same town. Public librarians have proven to be much more helpful than personnel from the schools. They can match the initials to a person in the appropriate yearbook. If it’s a man’s ring I ask for his name, if it’s a woman’s I get her name and about six of the men from her class. (Their last name doesn’t change.) Back to the search engines and hopefully I get at least one good phone number!

This has only failed once and the circumstances were strange for that ring. I located the school, found the lady’s name in the yearbook, found the person in charge of their class reunions, and after that person checked with several other people she responded back to me that nobody knew or remembered her. Either she was there just long enough to get her class ring and then moved or the people in her class did a very good job of hiding the body!