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Susan, what state are you in? The problem with what Steveo is saying (as logical as it sounds), is it is illegal, in I believe all states. The rangers could "call you to the carpet on it", if they wanted. The park workers can refuse to be the "middle man" for you, and can tell you that "legally" you HAVE to give it to them (or the police in the case of being found in a municipal city owned park/beach, etc...).
Here's the rationale that most md'rs are not aware of: All states have "lost and found" laws, that were born out of wandering cattle laws of the 1800's. Simply put, if you find an item over a given value (usually something like $100 to $200, depending on each state's wording), you are obliged to turn it in the police. You would only get the item back, if no one claims the item in 30 days. The law makes no distinction on when YOU think an item was lost. The rationale is simple, because otherwise, if the door to a Brinks armored car swung open, and wads of cash fell out, passerbys could merely say "I found it", and have no obligation to seek out an owner. Or if your neighbors cow wandered out of a hole in the fence, you can't simply keep it.
So "technically", all of us md'rs are running afoul of this, anytime you/we find an item that exceeds the value threshold of whatever your state's law is. All those beach hunters who accumulate bulk gold melt value, technically were required to turn in all their gold rings, and only get them back if no one steps forward. And it gets complicated, because when a value reaches a certain threshold (I think $250 or more, in CA, for instance), the police will even run a "found" ad in the local paper, asking prospective persons to come in to the station to describe a lost item. Still, if no one claims the item, and you go in after 30 days to pick it up, guess who has to pay for the cost of the ad?? YOU DO! (at least for CA law, and other states may have similar wording).
And yes Susan, I too would wonder if they would merely pocket the item, by merely picking up the phone, calling their uncle Fred, and saying "hey Fred, you want a nice rolex? come down to the station and describe a rolex matching such & such description, and presto, you'll have yourself a nice rolex". Now I KNOW this sounds low down and dastardly, BUT THINK OF IT: to the police (or ranger or whatever), it's NOT YOURS to begin with. You only FOUND IT. So you haven't lost anything if someone claims it, and you turned it in to them with full knowledge that someone might claim it. So to them, "what have you lost?". See ?
So Susan, now that you have inquired of them, you might find yourself in a pickle, that if you refused to "turn it in to them", they could (if they wanted) pursue you, since you have voluntarily given this much info. so far. Although they probably wouldn't. However, if it truly is a case of someone alerting them to a ring loss, then you can't fault them for demanding you give it to them. And no, they may not have any obligation to tell you who they give it to (because of privacy laws or whatever).
This gets pretty deep, and tangled in laws and bureaucracy, and has left many md'rs to simply not make an attempt to re-unite un-marked jewelry. For example: a buddy of mine found a class ring, freshly lost, at a school yard (got the signal, parted the grass, and it was right there, so he knew it was a recent loss). He sluethed out the owner, who it turned out, lived only a few blocks from him, since both houses were near this school yard. He called the house, got a voicemail, and left a message to the effect: "hey, I found your class ring, if you want it back, give me a call", and he left a call-back #. That night, guess who showed up at my friend's door as his family sat down for dinner?? THE POLICE! Turns out there'd been a burglary at the house, in the preceding week, and that ring had been one of the items missing. And my friend's voice-mail sounded like some sort of extortion attempt or something. Try as my friend did, to tell the police "I found it with a metal detector", they didn't seem interested to hear. They merely took it (I guess to reunite with the owner), and my friend never even got a thankyou, or no-thankyou, or kiss my *ss from anyone. For days afterwards, he didn't even know if he was somehow suspect for the break-in, or what. The neighbor never came over to acknowledge or anything, and my friend had a feeling as if he was in trouble now or something.
So you can see it gets sticky. Even posting on CL can be sticky, because technically, the police can watch that venue, and "call you to the carpet" for posting an item that exceeds a certain value, since *technically* you are supposed to turn items in to them, NOT make your "own attempts". Wierd huh? I had that happen, when I posted a pair of freshly lost prescription glasses found on the beach. I figured "they're worth more to the person who lost them, than to me", so instead of just pitching them, I figured I'd run a found ad (as perhaps it would net a tip afterall
) My ad even said "found with metal detector on such & such beach". The next day, I had an email in my box from the police dept. of that city! They asked if my glasses fit such & such description. Turns out, mine weren't a match with the pair that someone had come into their department reporting as "lost". But what concerned me, was the followup in that email from that police person saying something to the effect: "In the future, we would appreciate it if you would bring all the items you find with your metal detector, and put them in the lost & found after-hours slot at the station here [it is a touristy small town]
in order to be in compliance with the law, since we frequently get tourist reporting lost items" That last part is what had me scratching my head. I researched what it was they were talking about, and that's when I became aware of laws on the books, that they were talking about.
So I had a bit up luck in the lake and pulled up a diamond engagement ring. Not huge or expensive, but still I want to get it back to its owner. I call the lifeguard shack and ask if anyone posted a lost ring. They bounce me to the park office that asks me to describe the ring and then say yes, someone called about it, but they can't give me a phone number. They want me to bring it in to them. I guess I don't trust that the ring will really get back to the owner but will end up in the pocket of a park worker. I have posted it on Craig's list but nothing.
What do you all think? Turn it it and take a chance or hang onto it? Or?
