A ring lost on the beach finds its way back to Indiana owner

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - Eric Kramer says his love for metal detecting on the beach comes from many factors.

“You’re getting the benefit of fresh air, beach air and relaxation. Plus, you have the possibility of finding treasure,” said Kramer, a Myrtle Beach resident who moved here from Pittsburgh about a month ago.

It didn’t take him long to come across treasure. On Feb. 6 during his third metal detecting adventure since moving here, Kramer came across a class ring that would eventually find its way back to the owner, a high school freshman in Indiana.

“I heard that beep and started digging and dug up a ring. It looked like a diamond ring at first,” he said, adding that he was searching the beach between Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach. “But it was a very ornate, very nice class ring.”

Kramer noticed the ring had the name of the school, Connersville High, and the initials H.C. engraved in very small lettering. After a little research, he called the Indiana school and chatted with a receptionist who rather quickly was able to track down the owner of the ring, Haley Coker.

“Within an hour the mom called me and said ‘Oh, thank you for finding my daughter’s ring,’” Kramer said.

The ring had been missing since fall break, when Coker was vacationing at a Myrtle Beach oceanfront hotel. She had gone to the beach with a friend and removed the ring from her finger and placed it on her towel so she wouldn’t lose it in the ocean. She later returned, picked up her towel and left the beach while forgetting to secure the ring.

Once Coker realized she didn’t have the ring with her, she searched the hotel room and the beach where she’d put her towel down. By then it was out of sight and likely lost forever.

“I was scared to tell my mom,” she said.

Coker eventually told her mother, and months later the ring was an afterthought until the family received news that it had been recovered by a man in Myrtle Beach.

“I was surprised because I didn’t think I’d ever see it again,” Coker said. “I thought I was just lucky that he would try his best to find out whose it was instead of being like someone else and just take it.”

Coker said she learned the lesson of keeping a better eye on her valuables.

Kramer, meanwhile, was happy his hunt was able to help someone. He said his family has vacationed here for about two decades, but a week doesn’t leave much time to enjoy his hobby of metal detecting.

Kramer, a home inspector, recently moved here for a new job and to be closer to one of his daughters who attends Coastal Carolina University. Now, his treasure hunts will be more frequent, an added benefit to living here - whether the spoils go to him or someone else.

“It’s amazing. It probably happens more often than not, but I figured maybe that class ring one day for that girl would be a family heirloom that she would probably want to pass on to her kids,” Kramer said. “I have two daughters, too, and I know if they ever lost something I would love it if somebody found it and returned it to them.”