The story of a long lost ring and the return to its rightful owner.
Where it would start-
It was a good day scuba detecting, but I found a bit of a mystery. A gold earring, a stainless steel ring and the enigma, a lady’s gold 1955 class ring from Seminole High School. There are initials engraved in the ring.There are two Seminole High Schools in Florida but only one was open in 1955. I researched the yearbook for the school for 1955 but there aren’t any students with those initials. I’m really hoping to return it to the owner or family but I am kind of stumped as to where to look next.
The Update-
I posted a story about a ring I had found while scuba diving metal detecting. The ring was a lady’s class ring from Seminole High School, Class of 1955. I am happy to say the ring has been returned to it’s rightful owner.
A couple people have asked about the details so if anyone is interested, I will explain.
During the summer, with temperatures in the high 90s, high humidity, ticks and mosquitoes, metal detecting on land becomes extremely challenging. It’s much more comfortable to detect in the water. On this day, I was invited by a friend to detect a local body of water near Gainesville. On our first tank, we both found modern coins and hundreds of pull tabs. I also found a small gold earring. He suggested on our second dive, we try an area that once was the home of a Girl Scout camp that closed in the 1970s. Again we both found modern coins and pull tabs. I did find a stainless steel men’s ring and a lady’s class ring. Once I got it home, I got to look at it in detail. It was a lady’s class ring from Seminole High School, class of 1955. There were initials engraved inside “CHL”. An online search found two Seminole High Schools in Florida, one near Tampa and one in Sanford. The one in Sanford was originally opened in 1902 as Sanford High School but renamed in 1927 to Seminole High School. I was able to locate an online version of the 1955 yearbook but unfortunately there wasn’t anyone who had the initials “CHL” who graduated in 1955. There was a girl who was named Helen Lindsey who graduated in 1955 but, without any more information, I was stuck.
I thought to reach out on social media and try to find more information. I joined the Seminole High School alumni association FB group and posted the information. A couple days later, I received a DM from an administrator for the Seminole County School district who had looked up the records. Helen Lindsey’s given name was actually Clara Helen Lindsey but he had no further information on her. Again stuck, I knew she had once lived in Sanford so I joined the Sanford Word of Mouth FB group and again posted what details I had.
A few days went by and I received a DM from a lady that Miss Lindsey was the grandmother of her son in law and gave me his contact information. I made contact with him and he showed Miss Lindsey the picture of the ring and she confirmed it was hers.
I originally was going to drive down to Sanford last week but the hurricane was threatening our area, so I postponed. This morning, I drove down and returned the ring to Miss Lindsey. She was extremely happy and grateful. She thinks she lost the ring sometime in the late 1960s on a trip to my area to visit her cousin who was playing for the University of Florida’s Football team. She did remember going swimming in the lake but she didn’t realize that the ring was gone until she was home in Sanford and therefore thought it had been lost there.
I truly appreciate all the help from several different people during the search and I hope those of you who helped piece the puzzle back together take some happiness, like I do, from her smile. The ring might have been missing for 50+ years but it’s back where it belongs now. 
One post script, I would ask everyone one favor. She’s 85 years old and is in frail health. She was kind enough to allow me to post details of this so that everyone can enjoy the story but I would ask everyone to please respect Miss Lindsey’s privacy.
Written By and photo credit- Larry Stewart
About Larry- Larry Stewart a long time relic hunter and treasure hunter. He is found most of the time in the backwoods of Florida searching for the state’s early history. If not there, he is breaking rocks looking for fossils or searching the camps of Virginia with his son Riley.
Super thank you to Larry for allowing me to share his awesome story and setting the example of going the extra mile for a ring return!