Lost & Found: Manomet Man Finds Class Ring Missing 10 Years

A Manomet man found a class ring missing for 10 years, using a metal detector at the beach. The ring is his 14th such find.

Lillian Drane, the assistant town clerk in Lakeville, bought the ring in 1985 before graduating from Brockton High School. She wore it for years before marrying Jesse Drane and then gave the ring to her younger sister, according to the Middleboro Gazette.

Her sister wore it for years before she lost it at Nantasket Beach in Hull in 2003.

Fast forward 10 years, Kent Blethen was using his metal detector on Nantasket Beach a few weeks ago when he got a hit. It was the ring.

Blethen managed to contact Drane through Classmates.com and some online sleuthing, then contacted her at Lakeville Town Hall.

The call took Drane by surprise. "I was thinking, 'how do you know I lost the ring — nobody knows that," she told the Gazette.

For Mr. Blethen, Ms. Drane's ring makes the 14th ring he has been able to return to its original owner. Some, such as the 1.2 karat engagement ring that had been missing for 17 years that he found in Plymouth last year, he was asked to search for and knew where to start looking....

A corrections officer from Manomet, Mr. Blethen has been using metal detectors for about 13 years. He is currently a member of three metal detecting clubs, including the Gateway Treasure Hunters, which operates largely on the Cape, The Ring Finders, a world-wide organization, and Silver City Treasure Seekers. The Ring Finders is a directory of metal detectors available to help people find things they have lost.

"He's an honest man, to return this," said Ms. Drane. "He could have pawned it and bought something. He even cleaned it, and gave it to me in a box."