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Class ring returned 27 years after it disappeared

Posted: 8:33 PM May 25, 2012
Reporter: Conroy Delouche

Class ring returned 27 years after it disappeared

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Imagine saving your allowance and summer job money for something special, then losing it.

In 1985, an Oak Ridge man lost his class ring at work. Keith Parker never thought he'd see it again, until a neighbor discovered it 27 years later.

Some enjoy reading a book or laying by the pool to relax. But for Melissa Webb, uncovering underground treasures is a favorite pastime.

A few weeks ago, she walked with her metal detector along the grass across the street from Big Ed's Pizza.

"A signal showed on there that it could be either a pull-tab or a ring," said Webb.

Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, it's a pull-tab. But this time, it was an Oak Ridge High School class ring.

"But it actually had a name in it, and my husband went to school with the guy," said Webb.

The name engraved was Keith Parker, Class of 1984.

"I just figured it was gone forever," said Parker.

For four years, he prepared pizzas at Big Ed's. But one day in 1985, the year after he graduated, he got sauce all over his hands.

Parker says he put his ring down to wash his hands, and walked out without realizing that he didn't take it with him. When he came back three minutes later, it was gone.

"I really liked it, I'd picked it out myself, paid for it myself. It was very disappointing," said Webb.

Fast-forward to 2012, and now Webb and Parker are neighbors. But the day they met was when Melissa brought Keith's ring to his house.

"And then his eyes got real large, and he started looking on the inside of it for his name. I said, 'Yeah it's yours.' And just shock on his face," said Webb.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw it, and it just still hasn't sunk in yet that after 27 years, that it was returned to me," said Parker.

The two have become fast friends, and Parker says he's not letting his ring out of his sight.

"But you couldn't have made me happier, I tell you. Thanks isn't enough," said Parker.

Even after all these years, Keith Parker's class ring still fit his finger.