Trying to solve mystery of lost wedding ring

It’s a simple little ring with a 14-karat gold band, not unlike many others in its outward appearance. It’s what’s on the inside that makes it unique and precious – and is driving BI-LO store officials to find its owner.

The ring, found in the Pineville store on Pineville-Matthews Road in October, 2011, has a wedding inscription that’s nearly 70 years old. Store officials hope a family member who knows the date and other details will come forward to properly identify it.

The ring was found by a stockperson in the store who no longer works there, according to BI-LO District Director Rodney Towery. Attempts to find the owner have been unsuccessful.

“The store actually put an ad on Craigslist, hoping that possibly a family member might reach out, but didn’t get a response,” Towery said. “So it stayed here about six months. At that point, we sent it to the corporate office (in Mauldin, S.C.) and said, ‘Hey, this was in our lost and found and we’ve made attempts to find the rightful owner and we’ve gotten no response.’ ”

Towery said the ring stayed in the lost and found there for another six months without being claimed, and was then brought back to the Pineville store. A Charlotte TV station did a segment on the ring in early November, with still no response.

Towery said a posting on Facebook could be the next step.

“We’re just looking for the rightful owner of this ring. We’d love to see whoever this rings belongs to get it back,” he said. “There’s an inscription in the ring that we think the rightful owner will certainly remember.”

AJ Bell, store director at the Pineville-Matthews location, said the ring “was on one of our grocery aisles,” on the shelf between some products. The long-ago date in the inscription immediately drew attention.

The Pineville BI-LO has been there since 1989, Towery said. He doesn’t recall a lost item with such value going unclaimed for such a long time.

Towery said there’s a chance the person who lost the ring may have since died, or perhaps not realized it was gone until so much time had passed, he or she didn’t know where to look.

“We’re hopeful there’ll be a child or somebody who will remember it and come forward and say ‘Hey, here’s what was in the ring, it was my Mom’s and Dad’s, or it was my grandparent’s,’ ” he said.

Until then, store officials will keep it carefully under wraps.