Somewhere in Virginia, there’s a Wareham High School Class of 1973 ring with the initials VMA inscribed on the inside, though it doesn’t currently lie in the hands of its rightful owner.

After about 20 years in a shoebox and some time spent in the sand on a New England beach, the class ring has resurfaced, and the current keepers of the ring would like to find its rightful owner.

“(It) certainly has no great value or meaning to us, but it occurs to us that it might have some sentimental meaning to the person who lost it,” said Darrell Hoffman of Virginia, who with his wife Mary Gail found the ring while going through a box of items originally belonging to a friend of Mary Gail’s mother. “The ring is in excellent condition, which leads me to believe that perhaps it was lost when it was still fairly new. It is small in size so perhaps is a woman's ring."

The Hoffmans, seeking the ring’s owner, contacted Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino, who said a search through Wareham High’s 1973 yearbook turned up one name matching the initials—Vanessa Almeida—though at this point, they haven’t been able to contact Almeida or anyone who might know of her.

“My secretary, Kristi Prada, found a person with the initials V. M. A. (Almeida) in the 1973 yearbook,” said Palladino. “Through web searches, we’ve have been unable to come up with a phone number or address. This has happened to us once before and we were able to reunite the ring to the owner by using the local newspaper.”

Darrell Hoffman said the box of knick-knacks originally belonged to Walter Bickford, whom he believes was from Amesbury.

“His hobby (in the 1990s) was scouring beaches in New England with his metal detector for small metal trinkets,” said Hoffman. “I know he did this on various beaches, but most often Salisbury Beach. I am not sure if that is where he found the ring.”

He said Bickford and his mother-in law, Agnes (Larkin, Dolan) Mello of Lowell became close friends in their later years after the two met over a period of time when both were faithfully visiting their respective spouses in daily visits to a nursing home.

Both spouses eventually became non-responsive, so they would talk with each other to pass the time. They developed a close friendship that continued on after both spouses passed away. Agnes died at age 80 in 1994, and Walter passed away a few years later at about the same age.

Recently, the Hoffmans rediscovered Bickford’s box of tchotchke, which he gave to Mello before he passed.

“Walter gave Agnes a small box of some of the "treasures" he had discovered,” said Hoffman. “They consisted mostly of odd coins and assorted pieces of broken jewelry. The box was with some items that were left with my wife after Agnes died, and she just put it and its contents away with various other mementos of her mother.”

Darrell said that while going through the box recently, Mary Gail noticed the ring amongst the other assorted items.

“We saw that it is in very good condition, the name of the school is very clear, and the initials VMA are engraved inside. We thought, ‘it is not of any significant value to us, but it could be very meaningful to the rightful owner.’”

Palladino said that anyone with information on Vanessa Almeida (or Vanessa Almeida herself) can contact him and make arrangements to get the ring back.

“It just seems like the right thing to do,” added Hoffman.

UPDATE: Palladino said that by around 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, he already received a call from an Onset resident who said that Vanessa's married name is Oliveira and that she currently resides in Onset. He said the school would send correspondence via US mail to the address provided by the tipster.

"Hopefully she will get in contact with the school," said Palladino.