General
A Diver and His Metal Detector Solved This Nearly 50-Year-Old Mystery
Alex Davis, a Barbados-based dive instructor, returned a ring to a man who had lost it while on vacation decades prior.
It was a calm, sunny morning in October when Alex Davis went diving off the southern coast of Barbados with his metal detector, as he does a few times a month. Often, he finds bottle caps and rusty nails underneath the sand and coral layers.
This time, after Mr. Davis kicked his legs, dipped his head into the turquoise ocean and reached the sea floor, he heard a low beep: the distinct sound of the device finding gold.
“I pull back two more large rocks,” Mr. Davis, 34, who is originally from the United Kingdom and works as a free diving and spearfishing instructor in Barbados, recalled. “And as I pull back the third one, and the sand settles, almost immediately I see the band of the ring poking out of the sand.”
What Mr. Davis found was a gold graduation ring lost in the ocean almost 50 years ago, emblazoned with the year 1965, “McMaster University,” and the eagle from the Canadian university’s coat of arms. A polished, maroon stone that matched the school’s colors — probably a garnet — was embedded in the center.
“I kind of had that moment like Sméagol from ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” he said, imitating the voice that J.R.R. Tolkien’s character made when he held the One Ring as he became Gollum.
When he returned home, Mr. Davis examined the ring further and noticed that inside the band were three letters: FMP. Believing this to be the owner’s initials, Mr. Davis contacted the school’s alumni association.
