Suffolk News-Herald

The man’s ruby ring was buried beneath the Maryland soil for years, maybe decades.

Since last summer, it’s been packed away in a box in Fort Frederick State Park.

Now, park officials are hoping to track down the owner of the 1974 John Yeates High School class ring, turned in last July by a visitor at the state park outside Hagerstown.

&uot;The whole thing is kind of a mystery,&uot; said Sherian Hose, the park’s administrative specialist.

She is hopeful the ring can be reunited with its rightful owner.

&uot;My class ring disappeared 20 years ago,&uot; Hose said. &uot;If my ring turned up, I hope someone would try to find me.

&uot;Somebody was real attached to this ring at one time; it’s got some wear under it.&uot;

The ring is about a size 13, with images of an artist’s palette and a microscope flanking a maroon-and-gold crest emblazoned with 1974 on one side of the ring. The John Yeates Charger emblem is on the opposite side of the ring.

Inside, the ring is engraved with initials – either JSW or MDC.

&uot;It’s hard to read them,&uot; Hose said. &uot;The ring is pretty worn and it’s written in old English script, which makes it even more difficult to read.&uot;

Hose suspects the ring may belong to someone that participated in occasional historic reenactments at Fort Frederick, a 1750s fort that was used as a refuge by English settlers during the French-Indian War.

&uot;I think it had been there for a few years,&uot; she said. &uot;It was very dirty when it was found. We’ve cleaned it up quite a bit.&uot;

With the construction of t wo high schools in 1991 in Suffolk, the former John Yeates High School was transformed into a middle school.

Anyone with information about he ring should call Hose at 301-842-2156 or via e-mail at SHose@dnr.state.md.us.