Police find, return stolen class ring after 7 years

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The Minneapolis Police Department helped reunite a University of Wisconsin-River Falls class ring with its owner more than seven years after it was stolen.

Sam Crnobrna of Minneapolis said his house was broken into on December 24, 2008. Crnobrna told Fox 9 he does not believe the ring was one of the items the burglar intended to take that night. The ring was in the front pocket of his messenger bag the burglar used to transport the small electronic items they stole out of the house.

Of the stolen items, his class ring was the only one with sentimental value. 

Crnobrna received a notice in the mail last week from police saying they had his ring. Crnobrna told Fox 9 in an email he is not sure who found the ring, but when he picked it up from city hall he was told it was found in an alley, still in excellent condition. His full name was engraved on the inside.

"I remember thinking to myself the other day before I got that letter 'I wonder what happened to that ring'," Crnobrna said. "I wondered if whoever had it even realized they had it..  or if it just got thrown out." 

Luckily, his name was engraved on the inside of the ring. That, combined with the police report of the burglary, likely made tracking down the owner of the ring much easier. 

Crnobrna said his house was broken into on December 24, 2008. Crnobrna told Fox 9 he does not believe the ring was one of the items the burglar intended to take that night. The ring was in the front pocket of his messenger bag the burglar used to transport the small electronic items they stole out of the house.

Crnobrna posted a photo of the ring to Twitter on Wednesday; thanking police for their role in returning it to him.