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Stolen Ring Found After 20-Year Cross Country Trip

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Jan 13, 2009 12:45 pm US/Eastern

Stolen Ring Found After 20-Year Cross Country Trip

HIALEAH (CBS4) ― A Hawaii man who had lost a cherished ring in a decades old robbery finally has it back, thanks to a sharp-eyed police detective half a world away in Florida.  It was found in a pawn shop as part of a routine check, but police may never know how it made the cross country trip.

The ring belongs to Danny Reyes, who in the mid 80's wanted to be a cop and attended the police academy in California. The ring marked his graduation from the academy, and it meant a lot to him.

"It's a memento and it means a lot to me and my family," Reyes said.  He said he had almost forgotten it after losing it in a robbery shortly after his 1988 graduation.

Fast forward 2 decades to a pawn shop in Hialeah, Florida. Detectives on a routine check of pawn shops, in the search for stolen items, spotted the police academy ring at the Leon Jewelry Store on Palm Avenue.

"Something was not right. A policeman usually doesn't get rid of something like this," said Hialeah detective Osvaldo Gonzalez.

Curious, detectives checked into the sale and found it the ring was not sold by the original owner. When they looked more closely they found an inscription. That was the clue they needed to help the police academy make the connection and link the ring to Reyes.

"My wife actually took the call. She told me, 'You're not going to believe this, but they found your ring.' I was like, 'Oh my God!'" Reyes said.

"After twenty years, it came all the way from California and landed here in Hialeah," Gonzalez said. He said his officers were happy to reunite Reyes and the ring. "All in a day's work in the City of Hialeah."

Even though the ring was stolen property, the man who pawned it won't be charged. He told police he had been given the ring as a gift, and after 20 years, the statute of limitations for the robbery had long passed.

Police say they will likely never know whole stole the ring or how it made the journey from California to Hialeah.

And while Reyes has his ring back, the pawn shop owners are out the $90 for which they had hoped to sell the ring. While they could have asked Reyes to pay, instead they wrote off the loss, saying it would not be fair to make him a victim twice.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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