ROCHELLE — It’s a scenario that plays out more and more with the advent of social media — helping reunite a lost item with the original owner — and it happened right here in Rochelle.

Cindy Holloway thought her class ring was gone forever.

Holloway, known as Cindy Nelson from Rochelle Township High School’s Class of 1986 lost the ring over three decades ago, through no fault of her own, during her senior year.

“My senior year I was dating a guy who lived in Ashton. As most dating couples did back then, they exchanged their class rings for the other to wear,” Holloway began.

Her boyfriend, working at Crest Foods in Ashton at the time, would wear the ring on his pinky finger. Holloway said before the start of his shift he would put the ring in his pocket. Somewhere along the line, he lost the ring.

“He never knew exactly where it was lost, just that he no longer had it. At the time, I was pretty upset…mainly for giving it to him to begin with. ‘How could I be so stupid’, was what I thought.”

Holloway said at the time she felt it was best not to dwell on the situation.

“I never imagined that I would see the ring again, “Holloway reflected. “I just moved on with my life and never thought about seeing the ring again.”

Fast-forward to a couple months ago when Holloway noticed a Facebook post about a class ring found. After seeing the post a few times and again on the RTHS Class of ’86 page, Holloway took notice, reading the story associated with the picture of the ring.

Apparently the ring had been discovered by a man on a street in Franklin Grove and kept in a toolbox for years until recently in an attempt to find the original owner.

A glimmer of hope prompted Holloway to show the picture to her husband and daughters.

“I told them that it looked so much like my ring, or very similar to the ring I once had,” Holloway said. “I said, ‘Wouldn’t that be amazing if that is my ring?’”

Mistaken identity

The original social media post, shared over 300 times, was destined to gain attention. Holloway noticed another classmate laying claim to the ring. That’s when she said she felt the need to share her story and the possibility that it could be hers also.

“While sharing my story, I added that if the initials inside the ring were C.L.N., it was a good possibility that it was mine,” Holloway said.

After confirmation by a jeweler with a magnifying glass, the ring was determined to belong to Holloway. Arrangements were made to have it mailed, with Holloway happily receiving the ring last week.

The stone, diamonds, and engravings are all intact, although there is a little damage to one side.

Holloway remarked how grateful she is to get the ring she originally received during her sophomore year back in her hands. She mentions all of the different scenarios that could have been.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would see my ring again…It could have been lost in water, or in sand, or in the grass where no one would have ever found it, but instead it landed in the street, in the path of a wonderful man who could have pawned it for cash or tossed it in the trash,” Holloway said. “But no, he kept it safe for years and years in his toolbox until the power of Facebook helped to bring it back to me, and for that I am forever grateful.”