Usually when something is lost in the ocean, there is an extremely slim chance you'll ever see it again.
But that wasn't the case for a very special ring that slipped off the finger of a Michigander vacationing in Mexico this month.
Jared Raymond of Arizona was snorkeling off the coast of Playa del Carmen recently when he happened to be in the right spot at the right time and found the sparkling blue and gold piece of jewelry.
“I just looked down and there it was … I saw it glimmering,” Raymond said to WXYZ.
When Raymond inspected the ring, he found the name "Gary Franklin" had been engraved on the piece, along with the class year of 2012.
He immediately posted a photo of the ring on social media to try and track down its owner. Raymond wisely kept some information about the piece withheld so the true owner could be identified.
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His post was shared over 5,000 times and led to a number of dead ends until Franklin's wife -- all the way in Southgate, Michigan --came across the post and commented.
“It turns out that Gary and his wife were actually on the same catamaran that we were on the day before,” Raymond said. “He told me it slipped off his finger and he thought it was gone.”
The ring recovery and reunion felt especially good for Raymond since he lost his own class ring back in the 1960s. That was never found.
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Raymond said the ring is currently on its way back to the Franklins in Michigan and is expected to arrive on Friday.
“[Franklin] put himself through college, he said, with a wife and two kids, and this was a reward for himself, the class ring from the University of Michigan..." said Raymond. "To be able to get that back to him... it actually gives me chills talking about it right now."
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