From Oak Lawn to Oklahoma, missing class ring returned to owner after 55 years
High school class ring missing since 1968 reunited with its rightful owner
A decades-old mystery in the Chicago suburbs has finally been solved. It all begins with a high school class ring that vanished in 1968. It took the internet, a bit of luck, and the ring falling into the hands of a very special person in Oklahoma to make this reunion happen.
A decades-old mystery in the Chicago suburbs has finally been solved.
It all began with a high school class ring that vanished in 1968. Fifty-five years later, it found its way back to the original owner. It took the internet, a bit of luck, and the ring falling into the hands of a very special person in Oklahoma to make this reunion happen.
Beautifully repackaged, cleaned, and polished: it's a 1968 Class Ring from Oak Lawn High School, just shipped back to its owner Frank McNaughton, Jr., who lost it as a teenager in the south suburbs.
"It was a graduation ring. I'm not exactly sure how I lost it," McNaughton said from his home in McNabb, Illinois.
His ring was re-discovered late last year in Oklahoma.
"I just found it about six weeks ago in a box," Abby Zander told FOX 32 in early December at the beginning of her search for the owner.
Zander said her husband thinks he may have inadvertently ended up with the old ring after his family moved from Oak Lawn back in the 1980s. But instead of throwing it back in a junk drawer, Abby Zander decided to make it her mission to reunite the ring with its rightful owner.
"I had a wonderful person suggest I look at the library and that the library would have the yearbooks. And so that's exactly what I did and I narrowed it down to how many people had those initials," said Zander.
"There were initials on the inside F-W-M," said Frank McNaughton.
Using the 1968 Oak Lawn High School yearbook, an Oak Lawn Facebook group, tons of messaging, a FOX 32 news segment to get the word out, and the process of elimination, after two months, Zander had a match.
With Frank's more social media-savvy wife, Stacey, as the virtual liaison, all parties worked to confirm the ring was indeed Frank's.
"I messaged Abby and it just rolled from there," Stacey McNaughton said.
With the match confirmed and a direct line of communication established, Abby shipped the ring to Frank in McNabb, Illinois, northeast of Peoria.
"I'm excited because it brings back some nostalgia for him," Zander said.
Funny enough, the two families have quite a bit in common.
"Abby and her husband are motorcycle people and I'm a motorcycle person. Abby's a nurse and my wife's a nurse, so we're really looking forward to visiting," Frank McNaughton said.
The lost-and-found ring could launch a new friendship.
"We can't thank her enough," said Stacey. "I can't wait to meet her."
"We've got a special person in Abby," added Frank.
The Zanders and the McNaughtons already have plans to connect. This summer, Frank McNaughton and his wife are planning on riding one of their Harleys to Oklahoma to meet Abby Zander and her husband, Rick.