Man finds, returns stolen diamond rings that Wellsboro woman thought were long gone.

Just when you think there isn't one honest person in the world left, you find out there is some great people out there. Read and enjoy.

Marjory Mosher never met Mitch Carr until Saturday, but she got a Mother's Day present from him that she'll never forget.Five of them, actually.Thanks to Carr, Mosher, 85, now has her wedding band, engagement ring, a seven-stone mother's ring, her own mother's diamond ring and a high school ring worn by her late husband, Neal D. "Mo" Mosher.

The rings had been missing for at least seven years and were apparently stolen and stashed but never sold."I just couldn't believe it," said Marjory Mosher. "I never thought I'd see them again. It's like a dream come true."The dream started as a nightmare, when Mosher couldn't find the rings.Son Doug Mosher, a retired Wellsboro High School social studies teacher and daughter-in-law Joye Mosher thought at first that Marjory had misplaced the rings or accidentally thrown them away.

Then they realized that a 35-milimeter Nikon camera and lenses were also missing from Marjory's home at 17 Austin St."At that point, we knew they had been stolen," Joye said."But there was nothing we could do. We didn't know where to start."Carr started by buying a house in Arnot, 12 miles southeast of Wellsboro, about three years ago, to use as a seasonal camp.The house had been a rental property.

At that point, the rings had been missing for at least four years.Slowly but surely, Carr has been remodeling the house. Two weeks ago, he decided to take out a bathtub on the first floor."I was tearing it out, just pulling it away from the wall, and something shiny caught my eye," Carr said."When I looked, I saw these five rings laying there in the dust."Four were unmarked. The high school ring was worn almost smooth. But careful inspection revealed a "19" on one side, a "41" on the other and an almost invisible "Wellsboro" on top.The initials NDM were engraved inside the ring.Carr never missed a beat.

"I knew what I had to do," said Carr, 48, who owns a garage and welding shop in Newville, near Carlisle."There was no question in my mind. I never considered keeping them. I could no more keep them than fly."Carr phoned Wellsboro High School and talked to guidance secretary Sandy Mead.Her quick search of alumni records revealed only one person with the initials "NDM" in the Class of 1941: Neal D. Mosher (the "D" doesn't stand for anything; it's an initial only).Mead and Doug Mosher had worked together for years. She e-mailed him, and he called Carr.

"He said he thought he might have my father's ring," Doug Mosher said."He said he had five rings. I said, 'Is one a mother's ring?'"He said, 'Yes. With seven stones,'" Mosher said. "I said, 'is one a diamond ring with a heart on it?' He said, 'Yes,' and so on, and I was sure he had Mom's rings."To say the Moshers were surprised is an understatement."We were just shocked," Joye said. "After so much time, we never expected to see them again. She hasn't lived in that house for seven years, and they certainly weren't in her apartment.

"Doug and Joye Mosher, who now live in Martinsburg, W. Va., picked up the rings Friday as they traveled to Wellsboro for Mother's Day.Carr came to Tioga County and his camp Friday to hunt spring gobblers.They gathered at midday Saturday for lunch -- and so Marjory could meet a new friend who did the right thing."I cried when I heard about the rings," she said, slipping on the wedding band she first wore in 1946."They mean so much to me. I'm still flabbergasted. I thought I was going to need a doctor."I was crying," she said.

"It was so overwhelming. I just kept saying, 'Is it true? Can it be true?'"One ring, worn by Marjory's mother, Ruth Milner Head, dates to 1920."Mo" bought Marjory's engagement ring at Earl's Jewelry Store in Corning in 1945.Now it's back where it belongs, and it's likely to stay right there."This is all about the honesty and kindness and perseverance of one man, one stranger," Doug Mosher said.

"This kind of thing restores your faith in people."For Carr, it wasn't a matter of faith. Just duty."Once I saw those initials in the ring and the date of 1941 and realized it was from Wellsboro High School, I knew we were going to find our guy," Carr said."Whether he was deceased or not didn't matter. I had to find his family. I knew I had a job to do, and I did it, that's all."