A silver U.S. Army ring missing for two decades is finally back with the soldier who once wore it, fulfilling a promise a Fort Worth woman made three years ago. “And I’ll keep looking till I find him,” Mary Thelen told NBC 5 Responds in 2023. Thelen was searching for the owner of a ring she discovered tucked inside an old footlocker belonging to her son, Douglas, who served four tours in Iraq. Douglas did not remember exactly where he had found it. He thought it might have been overseas –perhaps in a truck or somewhere in the sand near Baghdad. But the ring offered several clues about its owner:Texas, four aces, the nickname “T-Bone” and, most importantly, a name engraved on it: Terry Sheppard Jr. When NBC 5 first shared Thelen’s story in February 2023, it attracted plenty of attention. Online sleuths began contacting a man by that name. “I had a lot of people messaging me on Facebook, just randomly,” Sheppard recalled. “One of my coworkers told me about a story they’d seen, and they were like, ‘You think that’s yours?’” For a time, it appeared the mystery had been solved. But Sheppard and Thelen never connected, and the ring remained in her care. Still, Thelen kept it safe — and kept searching. “I can see that this ring belongs to a person who really wants it back, and I really want to meet him,” she said. Then, during the summer of 2026, Sheppard reached out to NBC 5 seeking help recovering his ring. A few weeks later, he and Thelen met face-to-face. “See if you remember that,” Thelen said as she handed him the ring. “Oh, my goodness,” Sheppard replied. “I haven’t seen this in forever.” Forever was not much of an exaggeration. Sheppard said he had not seen the ring since 2006. He ordered it after completing basic training. The design was a personal snapshot of the young soldier he was at the time, featuring his name, his Texas roots and his nickname, “T-Bone.” “I’m glad it’s back where it belongs,” Thelen told him. The reunion solved one mystery — but uncovered another. Sheppard never deployed to Iraq, meaning Douglas could not have found the ring there. In fact, Sheppard said he wore it only once or twice. “The last place I can remember having my ring would be Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 82nd Airborne Unit,” he said. It turns out Douglas was also stationed at Fort Bragg during that period. Both men worked in the same area. Sheppard believes he may have removed the ring while working. Douglas likely found it and forgot about it — until his mother uncovered it many years later. Whether Terry and Douglas ever crossed paths remains unknown. “I just never thought I’d actually see this again,” Sheppard said. ...read more read less