Burke — Have you ever lost something sentimental? It might not have much monetary value, but to you, it holds a priceless memory and now it’s gone. In 1987, Greg McCarthy graduated from Bartlesville High School, in Oklahoma. He left with his memories and his high school ring.
In 2014, McCarthy was living in Burke. One day he discovered some money and his ring was missing from his home. Someone had stolen it, but McCarthy didn’t report it. The ring was gone forever, or was it?
On March 11, 2016, Officer Nicholas Cosmo responded to a report of a vehicle break-in in Burke. Neither the officer nor the 55-year-old victim knew anything about a man named Greg McCarthy. Officer Cosmo discovered a ring inside a glove found in the car, which the victim had never seen before. Officer Cosmo packaged the items as evidence and sent them to the Evidence and Property Section.
Months later, Evidence and Property Technician David Patterson was sorting through his daily list of property, which is about 300 pieces a day. He picked up a small plastic bag, containing a ring, and something about the ring caught his attention. It appeared to be a class ring, as it was inscribed with the year 1987 and the name “Greg.” Patterson decided to try and track down its owner.
He learned that the ring was associated with a high school in Oklahoma. He contacted the school and obtained a phone number for a student named “Greg.” It seemed like a long shot, but the man who answered was Greg McCarthy’s father. Greg was now a Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and stationed in Africa. He contacted his son, who confirmed the ring was, in fact, his and that he had lost it in 2014.
McCarthy could not believe his ring had resurfaced after all that time. What are the odds that one Property Technician, who went above and beyond his regular duties, would be a part of a reunification of a ring and its rightful owner? That’s what makes this ring so special to Greg McCarthy.