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"Just think of others" | Knoxville woman reunites class ring with its original owner years later

For three years, Katie Rich has been trying to find the owner of a 2001 West Washington High School class ring. She finally met him over the weekend.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In October 2017, Katie Rich and her husband went to a flea market at the Knoxville Expo Center. She wasn't sure what she was going to find, but one particular item caught her eye: an old class ring.

She purchased it for $5, knowing she wanted to learn more.

"I wanted to find out whose it was, see what the story was behind it," Rich said. "These rings are normally a lot more money than that."

From the ring, she was able to tell it belonged to a JJB who graduated in 2001 and went to West Washington High School in Indiana. 

10News reached out to the school, where Principal Mary Knapp told us it belonged to a Jeremy J. Brown. Knapp said the stone is pink because his birthday is in October.

Credit: Submitted

RELATED: Flea market find: Knoxville woman on mission to find owner of 2001 class ring

For a while, that's all Katie Rich knew. But each time she opened her jewelry box, she wanted to learn more.

"It just kind of broke my heart to know that that was someone's ring that they lost," Rich said. "Two Sundays ago, I reached out to the school again with the Channel 10 story."

On March 10, Jeremy Brown finally saw it and got in contact with Katie Rich. He hadn't seen the ring since 2003, just two years after he graduated.

Rich and her husband drove to Indiana over the weekend for an emotional reunion.

"It was like seeing family immediately," Rich said. "You could just tell it made his day. He still couldn't believe that the ring still fit him after almost 20 years."

Credit: Submitted

Jeremy Brown met Rich with a card, flowers and a $5 bill.

"It was a $5 ring," Rich said with a laugh. "But it meant a lot to me to get it back."

Rich said she's hopeful this story is a reminder of how important it is to be kind to others. She said they plan on staying in touch, and maybe even going to a football game in Neyland Stadium down the road.

"Just think of others. You don't know where they're at in their life," Rich said. "Just keep people happy, spread a little bit of joy."

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