Any law or obligation to look for an owner?

[kroche22]

You find find a piece of expensive jewelry,not deep maybe near the top of the chips in a tot lot. Do you have any obligation to attempt to find an owner? Maybe call the police and ask if anyone reported one missing? Check with the school to see if someone was looking for one? I would say no because they abandon it. What do all of you think?

This has not happened to me because I have not used my new ACE 250 yet! I got from Tony over a week ago and it's killing me. I'm getting it for fathers day tomorrow.

 

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[Jason in TN]

I would say you do if they have posters or info looking for it posted. But it is up to you. I did hear a story once of a guy who found a Rolex watch at the beach and there were posters and adds all over town offering a reward for it. A guy found it and carried it to all of the jewelery stores and pawn shops in town bragging he had found it and the police showed up and took it from him. He did receive the posted reward. So if you intend to keep it mum is the word.

 

[Digginman]

I found a really nice ring last Sunday. I have notified the school and the Administration Office. If anyone can describe it and tell me the markings inside the band, it's their's.

I usually try to find the owner for gold rings.

DM

 

[jeff of pa]

I found a really nice ring last Sunday. I have notified the school and the Administration Office. If anyone can describe it and tell me the markings inside the band, it's their's.

I usually try to find the owner for gold rings.

DM

DM
maybe you know this, & I misunderstood.

with Class Rings The initials if there, won't be Faked.

All you need to do IF you Want to return it
is find out from the School who has those Initials.

IF more then one have the same initials,
then you may need additional info like where they lost it,
color of stone, if not the school color.
Married name if a Woman.




kroche
This has been debated often.
in most cases it's up to the finder,
And their outlook.

 

[Digginman]

Not a class ring, Jeff. A really nice emerald and diamond ring.

DM

 

[jeff of pa]

Not a class ring, Jeff. A really nice emerald and diamond ring.

DM

Aaaah !

Tuff one.

Good Luck !

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Here's a true story regarding this subject: A guy I know found a high school class ring, back in the early 1980s when they were still making high school class rings out of gold, and back when gold was still good with melt-value. He found it at the elementary school lawn, right by his house. It was very shallow (he just parted the grass, looked down, and saw it), and it was the same year as it was then. He took it home and showed his daughter, who happened to go to that very same high school. She looked at her year book, and they were able to place the intitals, female, etc... to only 1 person who was graduating that year. The daughter says "oh! I know that girl! She lives just a few blocks from here!" So the father looked up that family's phone #, called them, and got a voice-mail. He left a message to the effect of "Hi, this is so and so down the street. Seems that I have your class-ring here. If you want to discuss its return, give me a call". He thought nothing more of it.

Later that night, the family sat down to dinner. There's a knock at the door. Guess who it was?? The POLICE! Yup, it seems that there had been a residential burglary at their neighbor's house a few weeks earlier, and this ring was one of the items that was stolen! My friend was under scrutiny........ as if he'd been the thief who was now trying to extort the owner! My friend had to do a LOONNGG explanation of how he'd found it with a metal detector, blah blah blah. At no time did the cops believe him, but they eventually the relented, took the ring, and left. Presumably returning it to the owners. It totally ruined their dinner, the mood, etc...

As the days and weeks passed, they never even got so much as a "thankyou" from their neighbor, at all time fearing they may be hearing from a lawyer, or further investigators. My friend was probably thinking, "why didn't I just take it to the melt-value store with all my other such gold?" From then on, whenever he'd bring a gold ring find to our club meetings, we'd jokingly ask him "Did you try to find the owner?". He'd be quick to chime in "ABSOLUTELY NOT" :P :P

 

[Sandman]

In most states the law is clear on this that something that is found belongs to the person that lost it. Case in point is a stray dog or cat. You found it and it is not yours! From there on things get confusing.

What I go by is I try to locate the owner of class rings since it is easy. I grew tired of running ads as they aren't free in a lot of places. When I was traveling to a diff. state/beach most every day this was impossible to keep up and you never knew if the ring was from a local or visitor anyway. If I learned I had someones ring, I made arrangements to return it.

 

[jeff of pa]

Seems that I have your class-ring here. If you want to discuss its return, give me a call". He thought nothing more of it.

Although, I'm not sure if you are Quoting Exact words, since this was awhile ago.
What caught My Eye & would have set off alarms
if I receicved this call was.

"If you want to discuss its return"

"Discuss" ?
Meaning ?

Am I going to need to Jump Through Hoops ?

"I found your Ring & would Like to Get it back to you"

Is closer to what I say.

 

[Monty]

For every honest person who has lost something and would like to get it back there is a crook who can and will try to claim the object if you give out too much information. If you run an add keep the description to a minimum and let the claimant describe it in detail. If they can't it is probably not theirs. You might even want to ask them a question to disqualify them. Like, ask if it has the initials JR in it even though it don't. Most crooks will greedily procalim that yes it does have those initials! Gotcha! Monty

 

[kroche22]

Thanks everybody for the responses. I guess I will have to wait and find a ring and then decide what to do if anything. I think if it's easily returnable (class ring) I would go through the process of returning.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Not a class ring, Jeff. A really nice emerald and diamond ring.

DM

HEY! You found it!

I lost a "A really nice emerald and diamond ring."

Send it as soon as possible LOL

 

[Monty]

An article with no initials or engraving would be very hard to return. Especially a lake or ocean front find. The person losing it may live in another state hundreds of miles away and an ad in a local publication would be fruitless and just cost you some $$$. Monty

 

[U.K. Brian]

In most countries it comes under 'Stealing By finding'. The Police should be notified but normally don't have to see the item. This gives the loser the chance to enquire from the Police if say a diamond ring has been handed in and they would be referred on to the finder but would have to give an accurate description to be able to make a claim.
Then according to the law if its not claimed within a set time it becomes the finders property and the Police issue a chit which allows you to sell the item with no come back.
If you don't do this with a valuable item and the loser reports it as stolen it can be on a circulated list and you end up getting your house searched which can be awkward if you have a few hundred other rings that you have detected over the years.

 

[Jason in TN]

If you gave a ring to the police you found around here I can garrantee you would never see it again. Sad but true.

 

[Jack(IN)]

Most times you find a...

class ring you can easilly check the school and locate the person. It surely is easier. I had one bad experience and to this day it bothers me. Found a girls class ring from a small school in eastern Indiana, recieved information and a phone number of the father. I called long distance and informed him I had found his daughters class ring and before I could ask about his address he just ripped into me calling me a list of ummm cute names and telling me he wasn't paying crap(not the word he used) for it. When I finally shut him up I explained I had found the ring and told him I was going to throw it back in that football field and he could go there and get it himself. I also told him to apologize to his daughter because she wasn't going to have her ring back as soon as she could have. The ring might still be in that football field as we speak, but since I told him where to find it I made sure I threw it back. I didn't ask for a reward, didn't want a pic, didn't want anything but an address to send it back. I didn't need his crap and unfortunately his daughter paid the price. You might say I was wrong but treat me like crap when it was not deserved and I will forget the right thing to do!

 

[jeff of pa]

If you gave a ring to the police you found around here I can garrantee you would never see it again. Sad but true.

In most areas the police have other things to do.

My guess when items get turned in they go in a lost
& found. and IF someone happens to show up
saying they lost an item & IF they are not Busy,
they will look in the Lost & Found & see if it was turned in.

I doubt it is anyones job at the Police station to Trace lost items.

& as someone said elswhere, at a certain point all unclaimed
property go's up for sale.

So "Do the Right thing" only applys to Citizens
who Prefer to Track an Owner, Rather then
sell it or give it to the County to sell.

Maybe one of Our Members who is a Policeman,
can shed light on if someones job, at the station involves
tracking owners of lost Property ?

 

[Monty]

The way it is handled by the police might be different in different areas of the country. It depends on the state law if any pertaining to found property. The PD I worked for will receive.... say a ring as "found property" . Then they will check it against the lists of lost or stolen property reports, usually kept on computer logs. If they can't match it up to anything then they will hold it for 90 days. At the end of 90 days it can revert back to the finder. However the PD won't chase you down to give it back. It's up to you to come in or call and claim it at the end of 90 days. If not claimed it will go into a public auction, the proceeds going into the city general fund, not just to the PD. Officers are not allowed to bid on items turned in to the PD. It may work different in other jurisdictions. You just have to check with your local authorities.
I found out that if you get permission to hunt property administered by the Corps of Engineers, you are supposed to turn in any found property to the nearest Corps office. If not claimed it will be retained and sold by the Corps, not returned to the finder. Keep that in mind if you hunt Corps property such as man made Lakes, etc. However there is no penalty if you don't turn it in, except maybe if the head engineer finds out he could deny you permission to detect on Corps land. Just FYI. Monty

 

[spez401]

Technically, everything you find belongs to someone else, and by keeping it you are "converting" thier property to your own. In most jurisdictions, legally you have an obligation to make a reasonable attempt to return the property.

that's the technical answer... as for the practical, it is usually something very different. I would suggest that you make a reasonable attempt to find the owner (and document it. As an attorney, I suggest you document EVERYTHING when it comes to exposing you to possible liability). Depending on your local police, I would suggest reporting a lost item of value, but NOT turning it in. Those items tend to "disappear" from lost and founds.

If you found it at the tot lot, post a flyer near/around the lot (without a picture of the ring). State that you found a ring, and that you are looking for the owner, and anyone with information should contact you at your email address. This will help screen out the spam, and you can keep a record of those that contact you. When people contact you, ask for a detailed description, karat, gold content, size, shape, cut, color, etc... but don't give any information out regarding the item. If someone is dead on... use your better judgment on contacting them... if nobody is close... you've done your due dilligence, and I'd say the item is yours.

Then, if anyone ever comes forward at a later date and says you "stole" the item, or won't return it... you can use all of the abandonment arguments, and show the records of your attempts to return the item.

But in all cases, use your better judgment. If there are no identifying marks on the item and there is no chance of returning it... well the decision is up to you.

steve