Ammon News - A Fordham University Class of 1969 ring dropped into the Long Island Sound in New York was returned to its owner after a 56-year absence.

Port Jefferson resident Dave Orlowski, who regularly takes his metal detector to Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai, said he was recently engaging in his treasure hunting hobby when he unearthed a ring buried under more than a foot of sand.

"It said Alfred DiStefano, class of 1969, Fordham University," Orlowski told WCBS-TV.

He said the question of what to do with the ring was answered by his wife.

"She says, 'Well, if you lost your ring, wouldn't you want it returned?' And so, right. The question, answered," Orlowski told WABC-TV.

Orlowski contacted Karen Manning, who runs the Fordham Class of '69 Facebook page, and she was able to put him in contact with DiStefano, who now lives in Texas.

"He could have just sold it, and made some money on it, but, it restored my faith in humanity," Manning said.

DiStefano said he clearly remembers losing the ring while watching a sunset on a Cedar Beach pier in 1969. UPI