Man Returns 1966 Class Ring Found 1,300 Miles Away

A high school class ring lost for decades has found its way home, thanks to one stranger's refusal to give up.

Andrew Ciffer was scanning a beach in Belmar, New Jersey with his metal detector when he struck gold. Not literal gold, but something more precious: a 1966 Crete High School class ring with the initials "B.W." etched into the metal.

Most people would have pocketed it or tossed it aside. Ciffer saw a mystery worth solving.

With only those initials and the year 1966 to guide him, Ciffer began detective work that would span 1,300 miles. He contacted the Crete Public Library in Nebraska, hoping someone might recognize the clues.

Laura Renker, the assistant director, took his call and immediately passed the information to the Crete Public Schools Foundation. Executive Director Marilea Thiem reached out to Jane Fahrnbruch, a 1966 graduate who might remember classmates with those initials.

The chain of small-town connections worked like magic. Fahrnbruch contacted Sandi Wielage-Roche, whose sister Barbara had the exact initials on the ring.

After all those years buried in New Jersey sand, the ring showed no damage. Barbara Wielage had her high school memory back in her hands.

Sunny's Take

Nobody knows how the ring traveled from Nebraska to a New Jersey beach. Barbara lived in Boston for a time, but the ring's journey remains a beautiful mystery.

What matters more is what Ciffer's gesture revealed about human nature. He could have kept the ring or sold it. Instead, he chose the harder path of research, phone calls, and patience.

"It does show that there's good in people and that they're willing to follow through with a neat, sentimental type of thing," Fahrnbruch said.

Sandi Roche was even more direct about Ciffer's character. "For this young man to take it upon himself to do this is monumental," she said.

The story reminds us that small acts of integrity still ripple outward. A stranger cared enough to return something that meant nothing to him but everything to someone else.

In a world that often feels disconnected, Ciffer proved that kindness can travel just as far as a lost ring.