Hunt for owner of ring found at Sandton City goes viral

A Johannesburg woman is determined to find the rightful owner of a wedding ring she found in the women's bathrooms at Sandton City shopping mall.

Cheyenne Grobler, 24, and a friend visited the mall to get a cell phone upgrade at the weekend. 

“At around 1pm we went to the bathroom and I saw the ring on top of a toilet paper holder. I took it and immediately ran to chase the owner with no luck. I went to the information desk and asked around but no one knew anything or saw the owner,” she said.  

Grobler then took to social media to announce that she had found a ring and appealed for the owner to contact her and identify it. But nobody has come forward.

“I’ve had a couple contacting me claiming it was theirs, but when I asked them to describe it, it didn’t match the description of the ring I had,”  she said.

Grobler's post on Facebook has been shared thousands of times.

“There’s a very small detail on the ring which the only person who would know is the actual owner,” said Grobler.

 While the search for the rightful owner continues, Grobler said she was concerned that the person could be an international traveller. 

 “It worries me that it could belong to someone who was just visiting the country, because I know there are a lot of international travelers in the Sandton area,” she said.    

Douglas Mabena, manager at the lost and found department at Nelson Mandela Square, said a European citizen had contacted the mall to report a lost ring. 

“The European caller said she had lost her ring on the 15th while the other lady [Grobler] found the ring on the 24th so we are not sure if she is the rightful owner,” he said.

Mabena said the caller would be put in contact with Grobler to possibly identify the ring. 

Grobler recalled how someone had commented on her post, saying she should sell them the ring if the owner was not eventually found. 

“I told him I wouldn’t do that unfortunately. My parents raised me better than that,” she said. 

Grobler said she had placed the ring in a box containing a ring that once belonged to her grandmother but was given to her as a gift by her parents. 

“To some people it’s just a ring, but to the owner it could be more than that. The ring could have a sentimental value to them,” she said. 

Cellphones, bags and identity documents were mostly the items reported missing in the mall, said Mabena.  

Grobler and her friends have spent a significant amount of time on social media, checking if the owner of the ring has not reached out to them. 

“I do hope that the post reaches enough people so the owner can be found. I will keep it for however long I need to. I will never sell nor give it away because it does not belong to me,” she lamented.