Missing for 42 years, class ring is returned to rightful owner

PHILADELPHIA -- A piece of her past, long gone or so she thought, but never forgotten.

It showed up 42 years later.

It was the summer of 1975, and Peggy DiFrancesco says she removed her loose-fitting Cardinal O'Hara class ring.

"I laid it on my towel and went into the ocean," she said.

That was the last time she saw it, until this week, reports CBS Philly. A message was sent to her Facebook account.

"It was from this gentleman, BJ Hogan, who asked me if I was Peggy DiFrancesco from the class of '75 and I said I was," she said. "He said we found your ring and I said, 'No way, there's no way.'"

"First thing I did was go to social media and looked her up on Facebook," BJ Hogan said.

Hogan, director of alumni relations and football coach at O'Hara, said weeks ago, an unassuming envelope arrived.

"Opened it up and there's no note, nothing in there, just a class ring," he said.

For Peggy, a Haverford High teacher, the ring was so special, she thought about having it remade.

"My parents bought this for me, and back then $50 for a ring was a lot of money," she said.

The ring brought back fond memories of good times.

"I think because I loved high school so much and had such a good time and I really did have too much fun, but [laughing] that's another story," she said.

And now the mystery persists.

Peggy says she wrote a thank you note to the return address the ring came from.

"The mystery is, 42 years where was this ring?"

CBS Philly did stop by the home listed at that return address in Sellersville. A man who came to the door declined to comment and really didn't want to talk about the story.

The intrigue goes on.