Nearly 30 years after losing his own class ring, Richard Escobedo has reunited over 200 rings with their owners, creating bonds and hope through his mission.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Nearly 30 years after his own class ring was stolen, Richard Escobedo has turned his personal loss into a mission that has reunited more than 200 people across the country with a treasured piece of their past.
For Escobedo, a Kennedy High School graduate, a class ring represents more than jewelry. It’s a symbol of memories, milestones and family history.
His journey began in 1997 after his class ring was stolen during a home burglary. The next day, he started searching for it. Along the way, he discovered countless lost class rings for sale at flea markets, pawn shops and other secondhand locations and decided to track down their rightful owners instead.
“There’s so many different unique stories about how the class ring went missing or how they lost it,” Escobedo said.
When Escobedo finds the owner, he doesn’t ask for money. Instead, he asks them to send a selfie with their returned ring, which he posts in his Facebook group, “Class Rings Bought to Reunite to Rightful Owners.”
“What I do with that picture is I share it to the group and believe it or not, it really gives everybody hope that maybe one day they’ll be as lucky as them to get their ring back,” Escobedo said. “Me, I’m hoping one day they say, ‘Richard, we found your ring.’ I’d be crying to my mom. … That’s why I do it, because it gives us hope.”
The group has grown into an online community where members celebrate each successful reunion while hoping their own lost rings might someday find their way home.
One of those reunions happened in 2020.
Escobedo found a class ring belonging to South San Antonio High School graduate Lady Morgan at a flea market years after it had been stolen from her apartment.
“I had my first apartment and I was trying to help someone,” Morgan said. “They hit my jewelry box. I didn’t have much. I noticed my ring was gone when he left and when I asked him about it, he said he threw it in Woodlawn Lake, so I gave up on it.”
By then, Morgan had already started saving money to buy a replacement ring. But receiving the original back meant far more.
“I was happy because, like I said, I was getting ready to go buy another one,” Morgan said. “And it wouldn’t have been the same, so it turned out well.”
The two have remained friends ever since.
For Escobedo, those personal connections are one of the most rewarding parts of his work.
“It makes me happy just to return a class ring,” he said. “Even the ones that are in San Antonio that I find and return, those are a little bit more special because I can meet the person, hand-deliver them their class ring and we build up a friendship.”
Not every search ends in a reunion. Sometimes Escobedo can’t locate an owner, and in some cases, people no longer want their rings.
Still, he says he’ll continue searching, one ring at a time, while hoping someone someday finds the Kennedy High School class ring he lost nearly three decades ago.
Escobedo is currently trying to reunite four San Antonio-area class rings with their owners — two from Kennedy High School, one from South San Antonio High School and one from Holy Cross High School.
One of the rings may belong to Margaret Trevino, a member of South San Antonio High School’s Class of 1985.
People looking to help identify the owners of lost rings or learn more about Escobedo’s work can find his Facebook group, “Class Rings Bought to Reunite to Rightful Owners.“