Acts of Kindness: Ring returned after almost 30 Yrs.

Susan Allen-Bosco of East Islip had long lost her high school ring off the waters of Florida beach. The ruby-red stone ring was purchased by her father and after he died two years later it held all the more significance. The ring was was reunited with it's owner after 28 Yrs. How you ask?

Mark Prue, 44, a financial adviser, was indulging in his treasure-hunting hobby in the Gulf of Mexico, using a waterproof Fisher CZ-20 metal detector. He hit pay dirt in the waters off Pass-A-Grille Beach, a few miles south of where Allen-Bosco lost her ring.Prue took the "black rock" home and used a homemade battery-powered device to remove buildup that accrues on silver over time. Soon he could read the inscribed name, "Susan G. Allen," and the words "East Islip High School." On one side of the stone, he saw the visage of an Indian - the high school mascot - and on the other side, a set of scales signifying Libra.The ring was the only one in Prue's collection inscribed with a name. For more than a year, he tried to find the owner on the Web. He showed it off to fellow members of the Suncoast Search & Recovery Club.Just before Christmas, Prue learned of Karen Leonardi, a member of the Black Diamond Treasure Hunters Club in tiny Pringle, Pa., who specializes in reuniting graduates with class rings through Web and phone searches.Leonardi said Allen-Bosco is her 20th success story. It took her a few days to reunite ring and graduate."There's no monies involved," said Leonardi, who graduated from her hometown Bishop O'Reilly High School in 1977. "It's just someone getting back their memories."Phyllis Favuzzi, a library assistant at East Islip High, didn't know what to think when Leonardi left a message there last Friday, she said.The ring's discovery seemed too good to be true. But Favuzzi located an old yearbook and found Allen-Bosco among the class of 1978.Yesterday, Allen-Bosco met with Favuzzi and Miriam Flynn, the school principal. She sat in the library with her diploma, a faded pink receipt for $52.92 from the ring's maker, the Jostens Company, and a portrait of her beloved father."I had to let go of it and get on with my life. And it resolved itself on its own," Allen-Bosco said. "I'm taking it as a positive. As a sign from him."