WICKER PARK — A lost wedding band found in Wicker Park has set off a sprawling online search effort for its owner, after a neighbor posted a picture of the ring on Twitter Monday.
“We found this wedding band on the sidewalk outside our house in Wicker Park while walking the dog. It’s inscribed with “I love you” and a date. Chicago, help me find its rightful owner?” tweeted Jonah Newman, an editor at investigative news site Injustice Watch.
Newman’s tweet has since garnered thousands of likes and responses, and other neighbors have shared the post in various neighborhood Facebook groups and on Reddit.
“I’m glad that people are excited to try to help reunite someone with their lost wedding ring. Certainly if it were the other way around, I would want people helping me find my lost wedding ring this way too,” he said.
Newman and his wife have also put up fliers at local coffee shops and asked a neighbor to post about the ring on Nextdoor.
Anyone who thinks the wedding band might be theirs can direct message Newman on Twitter.
Newman said he’s gotten a few messages so far, but has yet to find the rightful owner. He’s asking anyone who claims the ring to confirm the date inscribed on it.
Responses to Newman’s tweet include an outpouring of personal stories from people who have lost their own wedding bands, several Lord of the Rings references, and a few assertions that maybe the ring wasn’t exactly lost on purpose.
But at this point, Newman is optimistic it was just an accident.
“I would have to assume that if you really wanted to ceremoniously get rid of a wedding ring, throwing it on a residential sidewalk in Wicker Park is probably not the way you would do it,” Newman said. “My best guess is someone was taking a glove off to reach for something in their pocket and the ring flew off their hand.”
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Click here to support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.