Diver Finds and Returns Lost Graduation Ring To Rightful Owner

A diver found a graduation ring in Barbados that had been missing for decades. After retrieving the ring, he returned it to the owner.

Ocean floor / Unsplash

34-year-old professional free diver, Alex Davis, was out exploring an area in Barbados that had been impacted by Hurricane Beryl when his metal detector picked up on an interesting item, beyond the typical nails and coins.

Buried in the ocean floor, Davis found a 1965 graduation ring from McMaster University with initials "FMP" engraved.

"Once I saw that, I was like, 'Okay, there's definitely enough information here to try and get this back to the person. We've got the school, we've got the graduation year, we've got three initials," David told CNN.

Davis had scoured the McMaster University website to try and locate the individual but didn't have success. From there, he reached out to the university for assistance.

Davis wrote an email to the school stating, "I found a McMaster University signet ring with three initials on the inside. I found it metal detecting in Barbados this morning and suspect it's been lost for some time."

Alumni officers at the university determined that the ring belonged to Frederick Morgan Perigo, a former mathematics student.

"Thankfully, Morgan is a really good graduate and kept up his information with the university after all these years. So that was the other worry that we had, 1965 is quite a while ago. Would this person still be living?" Karen McQuigge, director of alumni engagement, told CNN.

Perigo, now 83-years-old, explained that he had lost his ring in Barbados in 1977. Upon locating the owner, Davis shipped the ring to Perigo's home in Ontario. To Perigo's surprise, his missing ring arrived just three days before his 83rd birthday.

Davis, in amazement, said, "So, it was like, oh my God, this story just can't get any better. Not only did we find it after 47 years at the bottom of the sea, but also, I found it, you know, a week before his birthday."

Perigo is now reunited with his ring, and the decades-long mystery has ended.