A Nova Scotia man who found a high school ring at a gas station more than 20 years ago is one step closer to reuniting it with its rightful owner.

Johnny Ward was working at an Irving gas station in Glenholme, N.S. in the early 1990s when he found the ring while cleaning the women’s washroom.

Ward says the ring was kept behind the counter for several years in case the owner returned to claim it. No one ever did.

The gas station, which was located on the old TransCanada Highway 104, was torn down in the late 1990s after the Cobequid Pass opened. Still determined to find its owner, Ward brought the ring home.

“I kinda misplaced it, then my girlfriend, she found it and looked it over and said, ‘Somebody might like to have that back.’”

Ward has never used a computer, so he couldn’t turn to social media to search for clues. Instead, he asked CTV Atlantic to do some digging and help solve the mystery.

The ring contains a large red stone in the middle and says Brewer High School 1980. It is engraved with a witch on one side and initials CAJ on the inside.

It turns out there’s a Brewer High School in Brewer, Maine, located about 600 kilometres away. The school’s mascot is a witch.

A manager at the Brewer Public Library tells CTV Atlantic there is one female graduate in the 1980 Brewer High School yearbook with the same initials as those found on the ring.

School officials are now in the process of trying to contact the woman, although they point out it may not be easy if her surname has changed, or if she has moved far away.

Still, Ward is optimistic the story might reach her somehow, and the ring can be returned after all these years.

“I’m sure whoever owns it would like to have it back.”