By Graham Hurley, CNN
Alex Davis, a diver in Barbados, uncovered a graduation ring owned by Morgan Perigo who lost the ring on a trip with his kids in 1977. Photo: Alex Davis / McMaster University
A day before Morgan Perigo's 83rd birthday last month, an unexpected package showed up on his doorstep. Inside was the 1965 McMaster University graduation ring he lost in 1977.
The package was from Alex Davis, a professional free diver and spear fisherman who runs a tourism business in Barbados.
During a slow week for the tourism trade, Davis checked webcams showing a spot he was interested in after it had been churned by Hurricane Beryl earlier in the year.
"So, areas where it was like a beautiful sandy beach, suddenly you can see all these rocks exposed ... With that sort of in mind, I was like, right, are there some areas now I want to go to where they seem like a lot of sand has been pulled out."
Diving with a metal detector, Davis at first found the usual rusted nails, bottle caps and coins.
Then he noticed something interesting about the coins.
"They were from the 70's and 80's and I started thinking wow, I'm in a zone where we've clearly got a lot of old stuff," he said.
Then his metal detector started to beep in a different tone. Knowing the tone meant gold, he began digging.
After sifting through layers of sand, dead coral and rock, Davis unearthed a ring with a dark red stone in the middle. Still underwater, he noticed the ring had not corroded and had a jeweller's mark - signalling it was made of pure gold.
Diver Alex Davis shows Morgan Perigo's long-missing graduation ring. Photo: Alex Davis / McMaster University
When Davis returned to land he magnified the engraving, revealing the words, "McMaster University 1965," and the initials "FMP."
"Once I saw that, I was like, 'Okay, there's, definitely enough information here to try and get this back to the person. We've got the school, we've got the graduation year, we've got three initials.'"
The hunt for the owner
Davis immediately searched the McMaster University website and messaged the university's general alumni email alias, said Karen McQuigge, the director of alumni engagement for the school.
The email described how Davis discovered the ring and the personal information on the engraving that might help the university identify its owner.
Requests from people asking to be reconnected with old friends are the norm, McQuigge said, but this one was unusual. She asked the university's reunion coordinator to help locate someone with the initials FMP.
The search narrowed down the initials to a Frederick Morgan Perigo, who goes by Morgan, and the school immediately notified him.
"Thankfully, Morgan is a really good graduate and kept up his information with the university after all these years. So that was the other worry that we had, 1965 is quite a while ago. Would the person still be living?" she said.
Perigo was dumbfounded to hear the ring had been found, she said.
Perigo explained to McQuigge how he originally lost the ring in 1977 on a trip with his family to Barbados.
His son was knocked over by a wave and as he grasped his son's hand to pull him out, the ring slipped off his finger and fell into the sea.
Ring arrived with perfect timing
Alumni staff relayed Perigo's contact information to Davis.
Davis contacted Perigo - who thanked him profusely and explained the story of how he lost the ring and shared another incredible detail.
Perigo said his birthday was coming up, Davis said.
"So, it was like, oh my God, this story just can't get any better.
"Not only did we find it after 47 years at the bottom of the sea? But also, I found it, you know, a week before his birthday."
Davis wrapped up the ring and took it to FedEx for expedited international shipping to get there before Perigo's birthday.
"That ring has been underwater for 47 years, so I'm fairly confident he pretty much moved on from it and figured it was gone forever," Davis said.
CNN was unable to reach Perigo for comment.
The experience was satisfying to Davis and if he found another ring with identifying information, he'd love to do it again, he said.
"In 1965 he got the ring and he was still wearing it in 1977 so I think that tells you that it actually meant a lot to him at the time," McQuigge said.
- CNN