Retired Ottawa police officer reunited with service ring lost on vacation

A retired police officer is smiling once again after being reunited with one of his most prized possessions.

Iain MacFarlane says his ring meant to honour his 25-years working for the Ottawa Police Service suddenly went missing while on vacation in the Dominican Republic in January.

MacFarlane says his career working for the Ottawa police means everything to him.

“A fantastic career,” he said.

The 73-year-old retired officer began as an 18-year-old cadet, working his way up to major crimes and surveillance. When he marked 25-years with the service in 2000, he was given the ring from the Ottawa Police Association.

“It meant my whole life. It was my career. That’s the sense of accomplishment” he said.

While vacationing in Punta Cana, he says he noticed the ring was gone after returning from the washroom.

“It was just devastating,” he said. “I searched high and low, and I was shaking my hands. I looked around but couldn’t find it around there – and I tried.”

Weeks later, he would be reunited with the ring thanks to the good investigative work of a Pennsylvania woman he’s never met.

He says the woman kicked the ring in the sand, thinking it was a bottle cap. She brought it back to her home in the United States where a jeweller discovered the words “MacFarlane” and “O.P.F” (Ottawa Police Force) on the inside of the ring.

The woman reached out to the Ottawa Police Veterans Association, who worked to get it back to MacFarlane. When the ring was mailed back to Ottawa, it had travelled more than 3,000 kilometres and was missing for just over a month.

“Fantastic. No words,” he said when asked what it means to have it returned to him.

MacFarlane hasn’t had the chance to meet or speak with the person who performed the act of kindness, but he says he is grateful.

“Neighbours take care of neighbors. That’s basically it,” he said.

“Whether you’re from the States or from Canada, doesn’t matter. You’re still neighbors.”