Police return ring 25 years after it went missing

How long does it take to track down a long-lost, high school class ring? Twenty-five years and three days — at least for one lucky and surprised man.

While making an arrest at a Wal-Mart store in Scarborough, Maine, police noticed that a ring worn by a suspect held in custody didn’t match her name.

The ring, which had a football emblem, was engraved with "1987" and the name “Jerry Portier.”

A crime analyst at the Scarborough Police Department spent three days tracking down the ring’s rightful owner, who said it had been missing since 1989 when Portier lost it while he was away at college in Massachusetts. Portier now lives in Arizona.

“His first words were, ‘You’re kidding me,’" Det. Ron Nelsen told local affiliate WMTV.

After confirming that the ring belongs to Portier, Scarborough police say they shipped the ring to him just in time for his next class reunion. That’s, of course, assuming it doesn’t get lost in the mail.

Follow Eric Pfeiffer on Twitter (@ericpfeiffer).