Call Kurtis: Decade-Long Quest to Return Ring     

RIVERBANK (CBS13) -- Kelly Marlow has spent 14 years trying to return a class ring that belongs to someone else, but all her attempts have failed.

Meanwhile, she has been keeping the stranger's ring safe inside a locked box, sitting next to her late father's watch and late brother's ring.

"It's somebody's memory," Kelly said.

She was given the ring years ago. Kelly said a man handed her the 10k gold women's band when she worked as a bartender.

"I would love for her to have [the ring] back," Kelly said.

THE CLUES

The ring is etched with clues. The woman graduated from Escalon High School in 1992.

"She'd probably be around 40-years-old right now," said Kelly.

Engraved on the ring, in very tiny print, is the name Renee Eckert.

"What have you done to find Renee Eckert?" asked Kurtis Ming.

"I called people with the last name Eckert in the phone book and they all thought I was crazy." Kelly said. "Even if they did know her, they wouldn't tell me."

Her internet searches came up with nothing too.

But, after 14 years, Kelly hasn't given up.

"You want to get this back to her?" asked Kurtis.

"I do." Kelly said. "I would love for her to have this back, because it's a keepsake."

After hitting roadblocks, she asked CBS13 for help.

FINDING RENEE

We got our hands on Escalon High School's class of '92 yearbook. We found a picture of Renee Eckert and discovered she is now living in the Bay Area.

We invited Renee to Escalon High School, where she graduated 23 years ago.

"What happened to this ring?" Kurtis asked Renee.

"My parents' [house] was burglarized in 1997," she said.

All of Renee's jewelry, including her class ring, was stolen.

"I didn't think I'd ever see [my class ring] again," Renee said.

Renee had given up hope she would ever find her ring. Kelly never gave up hope of finding Renee.

REUNION

We invited Kelly to Escalon High School's gym. But, she had no idea that she was about to have the moment she had so long wanted.

"I hope she's having a great time, a great life, and I hope if we find her she's really happy to have her ring back." Kelly told Kurtis.

Little did Kelly know, Renee was also there at Escalon High School's gym.

"I've got news for you. " Kurtis told Kelly. "We found [Renee]."

At that moment, Kelly turned around to see Renee walking towards her.

"You're a hard girl to find," Kelly told Renee, embracing her in a hug.

"Renee, you're a little choked up." Kurtis told Renee.

"Yeah, I didn't think I was going to be," Renee said, wiping away tears from her eyes.

Finally, Kelly handed the class ring to Renee, its rightful owner.

"Thank you," said Renee. "I haven't seen this in 17 years."

"Does it still fit?" Kelly asked.

"Oh gosh, I wish!" Renee laughed.

Renee explained to Kelly that the class ring she had held on to for 14 years had actually been stolen when her parents' house was burglarized.

As fate would have it, Renee actually makes jewelry and gave Kelly a pendant that so happened to be the exact same color of the sweater Kelly was wearing.

Now, Kelly can put her new keepsake in the lockbox to fill the void where she kept Renee's ring for more than a decade.

"I'm so happy," Kelly said, tears filling her eyes.

After 14 years, she has finally fulfilled her mission.

"I always had in the back of my mind that someday I [was] going to find her," Kelly said.