The mystery package arrived at the Ogden school in August, sent by someone in Texas who wanted to return the ring, found in the 1960s in a restroom in Wiesbaden, Germany, to its rightful owner.

All that's known of the anonymous mailer is that he resides in the Texas zip code of 78710, mailed the ring on Aug. 19, and is equally at a loss as to who the owner might be. "She [my girlfriend] gave it to me and I stuck it in a wooden box and have had it ever since," said a letter that accompanied the ring.

Weber State administrators hope the Class of '69 ring might be returned soon - preferably, by the end of the week. If so, the reuniting of ring and owner would make a pitch-perfect opening to homecoming celebrations next week at the university.

"It's like a good mystery story, or a dog who gets lost in the move and then makes its way back to its owner," said Margie Esquibel, associate director of alumni relations at WSU. "You'd want that dog to tell a story. It's the same with this ring. How did it end up in Germany?"

An engraved inscription inside the ring reading "MWR-BS" might yet help locate the original owner, but so far a search of then Weber State College's 1969 yearbook has not shown any graduates with those initials. John Kowalewski, the university's director of media relations, said the initials "BS" point toward a graduate who earned a bachelor's of science. Out of a graduating class of 1,030, 742 of the college's graduates earned such degrees that year.

Given Wiesbaden's status as U.S. military base since World War II, chances are good the ring belonged to an enlisted soldier or other military member. Then again, it may have belonged to someone serving an LDS mission who either graduated from Weber State, or expected to. In the letter, the anonymous mailer stated his girlfriend stumbled upon the ring in either 1966 or '67. Esquibel said students then often ordered rings in anticipation of graduating.

"I sense they're a little sheepish that it took so long to remedy the situation," Kowalewski said of the man who mailed the ring. "We'd love to get the ring back to its rightful owner in time for homecoming."

The university requests that anyone who might know the owner phone 801-626-7535 with possible leads or information.