Winthrop Police Reunite Owner with Long Lost Class Ring

The Winthrop Police Department has shared a “Good News” moment on their Facebook page.

After a recent inventory of their evidence/property room, a Winthrop High School 1975 Class Ring was discovered. After some internet sleuyhing, they uncovered the ring’s owner, just in time for their 50th Class Reunion.

From the Winthrop PD:

The year was 1996, and in the sandy dunes of the Wayne Desert a high school class ring was found. The ring was turned into the Winthrop PD and there it stayed for the next 25 plus years. During that time attempts were made to find the owner but unfortunately the owner could not be located. So, there it sat, collecting dust on a shelf among other lost and found property, slowly getting pushed to the back and eventually, after decades, getting forgotten about. Perhaps the owner did the same, forgetting about the ring that at one time he wore so proudly up and down the halls of Winthrop High School back in 1975.
Last week an evidence/property room inventory was conducted and pulled from the back of the shelf was this class ring. As the big green stone absorbed the sunlight for the first time in many years its reflection was a little dull and it didn’t reflect the light quit as much as it did compared to the days it being on the hand atop a steering wheel driving up and down the streets of Winthrop.

The ring had the initials “EEA” inscribed inside the band, and with that information and the year 19-75 embossed on the shoulders of the ring, another attempt was made to find the owner. Now keep in mind that when the ring was lost Google wasn’t a thing, in fact we were 2 years away from the launch of google and 3 years after the “World Wide Web” was released to the public, and almost 10 years before Facebook, (oh the good ol’ days).
With the power of the internet, we began looking. An online yearbook from Winthrop High School circa 1975 was found and a name and potential owner came to light, Ernest Atkins. Unfortunately, there are/were 8 in the state, so more digging was needed. Searching through church records from 1959, and obituaries from 2021 the investigation began to lead out of state.

An Ernest Atkins was found in Arizona, and it was looking promising. He was found on Facebook and after comparing the long-ago graduation photo to his now profile photo the similarity in the chin and eyes were a giveaway.
After working with the local authorities in Arizona, a phone number was obtained and although it was an old number on file, a call was made. A gentleman answered the phone and stated he was in fact Ernest Atkins, Winthrop High school graduate of 1975. He was ecstatic to hear the ring was found.

Now if you’re keeping up with the dates, it will be Ernie’s 50th high school reunion this year. Well Ernie, after 29 years your ring will be back on your finger and just in time for your reunion. Maybe a story you can add to the many I’m sure you will tell when reminiscing with your classmates.

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