Twice-lost Portsmouth High class ring returned — 34 years later

’I’m floored,’ says Dayle Prue, Class of 1982

By Jim McGaw
Posted 5/24/18

PORTSMOUTH — It’s a riddle, wrapped in a mystery and found inside an old pocketbook.

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Twice-lost Portsmouth High class ring returned — 34 years later

’I’m floored,’ says Dayle Prue, Class of 1982

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — It’s a riddle, wrapped in a mystery and found inside an old pocketbook.

However or wherever Dayle Prue’s senior class ring first went missing 34 years ago, he’s happy to finally be getting it back through the help of a local woman.

“I’m floored. I didn’t think I’d ever see that ring again. I lost it in 1984 — two years after I graduated,” said Dayle, who now lives in Nebo, N.C., not far from the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The improbable return of the white gold Balfour ring to its rightful owner is a story of fortuitous finds, chance connections, social media sleuthing and conflicting memories.

As Carolyn Casey tells it, about 20 years ago her carpenter husband, Steve, heard an interesting story from a co-worker, Terry Hayes. Terry told him he had been on vacation “in the Bahamas, Bermuda — somewhere like that,” and found a PHS senior class ring, said Carolyn, a 1979 graduate of the school.

“He was snorkeling and he came across this ring. He said to my husband, ‘You’ve got a daughter at Portsmouth High School. I’m going to turn it over to you,’” recalled the Common Fence Point resident, whose family has strong ties to PHS. “All my siblings went and all my children graduated from Portsmouth High.”

She could hardly believe it when Steve handed her the ring. “I was like, ‘What? Are you kidding me?’” she said.

Looking back, Carolyn acknowledged she probably wasn’t the best candidate to be entrusted with the ring. At the time she had seven kids at home, ranging in age from 3 to 16. (Her 22nd grandchild is due soon.)

“I graduated from Portsmouth High in June of ’79, got married in August of ’79 and was pregnant by October of ’79. I was a stay-at-home mom. I had too many kids and couldn’t work,” she said.

In this bustling household, the ring vanished almost as soon as it arrived.

“Well, don’t you know me, I put it somewhere and now I’m freaking out: ‘Oh my God, I’ve lost it.’ It was like two days after. So now I’m feeling crummy since it had made its way here all the way from the Bahamas or wherever,” said Carolyn.

Found again

The ring remained missing for another two decades. Then on Wednesday, May 9, it reappeared. 

“I’m going through old pocketbooks because I’m old-fashioned. Summer’s coming, you go back to white,” she said. In an old brown handbag — “This ugly pocketbook that I was going to put in the garbage,” as she described it — Carolyn found the ring in an inside pocket.

“I take it out but I can’t read a thing; it’s blacker than black. I shine it up and that’s when I saw the initials.”

“DEP” was engraved on the ring, a man’s.

“This is an omen,” Carolyn told herself. “Something’s telling me that someone wants me to get this ring back to them.” 

The next day, she posted pictures of the ring and shared her story on the If you grew up in Portsmouth, RI share some memories Facebook page. A few people were skeptical at first, saying the ring could have come from a Portsmouth in another part of the country. (There are seven places in the United States named Portsmouth, and three Portsmouth High Schools.)

But the telltale giveaway was inscribed right on the ring: Images of the Patriot mascot as well as a detail of the Mt. Hope Bridge.

Carolyn and the other armchair detectives didn’t take long to figure out who the owner was. Although Dayle Prue’s middle name is not listed in the 1982 PHS yearbook, he was the only male in the class with matching first and last initials.

Carolyn found relatives in Middletown, who shared a phone number in North Carolina where Dayle lives. She called him up.

The right guy

Yes, he had lost his ring sometime after graduation, he told her.

“It’s unbelievable — pretty wild,” Dayle said during a recent phone interview. “This morning Carolyn sent me pictures of it. If you look at it, it’s in really nice shape, considering what it’s been through.”

Carolyn mailed the ring to Dayle a couple of days after she found it. Dayle said he’ll probably “wear it for a little while” before storing it away, explaining he works construction and doesn’t want to damage the ring.

He didn’t care to share how the ring first got lost, but said he’d love to know what happened to it afterward.

“What really got me was when she said it was found in the Bahamas or Bermuda or something. How in the heck did it get there?” he said.

Mystery continues

And here’s where this trip down memory lane runs into a pothole.

Carolyn said Terry moved away years ago, but that his family owned the O'Neill-Hayes Funeral Home in Newport. So, we called the business and were given a number for Terry, who now lives in Hailey, Idaho. 

When asked about finding a PHS class ring while snorkeling about 20 years ago, Terry paused.

“I don’t remember that,” he said.

Yes, he used to go snorkeling and spearfishing with Steve way back when, but he couldn’t recall finding a ring or even being in the Bahamas. Even if he had found a ring, “it would have been in Rhode Island,” he said.

Which further deepens the mystery. If Terry didn’t find the ring and give it to the Caseys, then who did? And where was the ring found?

“I would love to talk to Steve about this,” Terry said. “I don’t remember any of this, but maybe he can refresh my memory.”

Told of Terry’s comments, Carolyn laughed. “Well, maybe I’m going senile, but that’s the story that I remember,” she said.

If only the ring itself could shed some light on the mystery, Dayle said.

“If I could talk to it,” he said, “what stories would it tell me?”

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Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.